


Tile Tossed Over A Wall

by Wicked_Stitch



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Humor, Azula & Zuko (Avatar) Have a Good Relationship, Azula (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Azula (Avatar) Redemption, Badass Katara (Avatar), Bending (Avatar), Episode: s01e15 Bato of the Water Tribe, Eventual Katara/Zuko (Avatar), F/M, Gaang (Avatar), Gen, Minor Sokka/Suki, Northern Water Tribe, Oblivious Zuko (Avatar), Original Character(s), Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, POV Zuko (Avatar), Slow Burn Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Yue (avatar) - Freeform, Southern Water Tribe, Suki & Zuko (Avatar) Friendship, Tropes, Water Tribe(s) (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar)-centric, Zuko Joins The Gaang Early (Avatar), Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, Zuko's Scar (Avatar), water tribe siblings are HOT
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:41:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 64,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28016391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wicked_Stitch/pseuds/Wicked_Stitch
Summary: In which the White Lotus is slightly more proactive.The night before his Agni Kai, Zuko is taken from his home and the only life he has ever known. For the next six years he lives above a tea shop in Ba Sing Se. Until one day the eyes of the Avatar's shrine glow and destiny begins.
Relationships: Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Yue (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 127
Kudos: 504





	1. A Nice Life

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!  
> I am really excited about this story. I was inspired by < this post by ATLA Writing prompts.  
> I also aged up our favorite characters by two years because I have worked with twelve year olds and they usually suck.  
> I hope you enjoy!

There is no way that Zuko is going to sleep tonight. Instead he lays in bed tracing the faint scars that line his back and sides. The evidence of all his previous mistakes and the punishments that he thought he deserved. He wonders how bad the next scar will be, after making such a big mistake this morning. In hindsight Zuko wishes his uncle hadn’t acquiesced when he’d begged to be let into the war meeting. He can’t think of any way he could’ve heard the plans he’d heard and not reacted the way he did. So instead he just wishes he’d never heard and could have continued living his life in blissful ignorance to the reality of this war. This war that he was taught brought the fire nation glory and bettered the world. But how could a war better the world if they needed to sacrifice their own people as bait. From what he heard today, war just made both sides worse. 

As the moon gets higher in the sky, Zuko’s mind turns to the events that are coming. He accepted the challenge of an Agni Kai. This tradition was meant to bring honor to the winner and shame to the loser. But how could a twelve year old boy put his honor on the line. What honor did he have in the first place? He was not a prodigy like Azula; he did not instill fear into men like his father; he was not a war hero like his uncle. He was the weakest of his family. He knew it. They knew it, and tomorrow the entire royal court would know it. No one else of royal blood would be scared to lose to an officer of lesser station. And yet, Zuko was terrified. So Zuko just laid there, tracing his scars and wondering where on his body tomorrow’s would be. He was so caught up in his mind that he missed the soft knock on his door. 

Just past midnight, Zuko startled to see his uncle entering his room. The look in his eyes was one that Zuko had never seen before, fear. 

“Nephew, it is a lovely night outside. Would you care to take a walk with me?” he asked in a voice that was trying too hard to sound normal. Zuko got out of bed immediately and threw a robe over his nightwear. It was a warm night in the Caldera, so he didn’t bother with shoes as he followed his uncle to the garden. 

“What’s wrong, Uncle?” he asked once they were seated in his favorite spot next to the turtleduck pond. 

“Do not be afraid, Prince Zuko. Everything is going to be okay; I will make everything okay,” his uncle told him in a hushed tone while running his hand over Zuko’s hair and cheek. The gesture reminded him of the last time he saw his mother. The connection made him uneasy. “Tomorrow, at the Agni Kai, your father plans to face you in his general’s stead.”

“That’s against the rules!” This could not be true, the rules were sacred. His father wouldn’t hurt him. Not in public at least. His father always said that the punishments he gave Zuko were not meant for the world to see. 

His uncle shushed him and looked around frantically. “He believes that since you spoke out in his war room, it was actually him that you offended,” Iroh took a deep breath, like the next words were painful somehow. “I overheard that your father plans to kill you in the Agni Kai.” 

Zuko felt like he was falling with no ground in sight. There was a deafening ringing in his ears and the world swam in front of his eyes. “No,” was all he could manage to say. He knew it was true but it hurt worse than any training accident or punishment. His father wanted him out of the way for Azula. 

“I’m so sorry my boy,” Iroh said as he wrapped Zuko into a too tight hug that the boy could not even feel. “I won’t let him do it. I’m getting you out of here. I won’t let him hurt you ever again,” Iroh moved to hold onto his shoulders, forcing Zuko to look into his dark amber eyes. “Zuko, you must listen to me. In a few moments men I trust will be here, they are going to take you away. Don’t be scared. They will bring you someplace safe. I will come to see you as soon as I can. Do you understand?” 

All Zuko could bring himself to do in response was nod. When Iroh gave him another bone shattering hug, Zuko could feel it and hugged him back. He was becoming aware of the moisture on his cheeks. He looked around him and took in the turtleducks sleeping in the pond, the garden his mother planted and cared for that had become overgrown in her absence, his only safe space for the last twelve years. He was absorbing his last moments in the only place he’d ever called home. 

… 

Within the hour Zuko was in a sack meant for laundry being carried through the palace gates by a man he’d never seen before. But Zuko trusted his uncle and so did his best to keep the fear at bay. He felt the sack being loaded into a cart and driven away. The ride felt long enough to get to the harbor. Then he felt the sack being picked up again. The next time the sack was put down someone untied the top and let him out. He was in a small room with a bed and a trunk that looked like it belonged on a ship. The unfamiliar man who’d been carrying the sack was in front of him. 

“Where am I?” Zuko asked. 

“Where do you think you are?” the man grunted. Zuko really looked at the man and noticed his two lines of scar on his cheek, hidden by a head of bushy white hair. 

“On a boat of some sort.”

“Good, you’re not an idiot. That will make this much easier,” the man made a noise that could have been a laugh if there’d been any joy in his eyes. “My name is Jeong Jeong, I am an old friend of your uncle’s. I have been tasked with getting you safely out of the Fire Nation so don’t make my job difficult.”

“Admiral Jeong Jeong?” Zuko recognized the name from his military lessons. 

“I am no longer an admiral, boy. Just as you are no longer a prince,” that felt like a direct hit to the stomach for Zuko. He had not yet thought about his escape from the palace in those terms. Leaving the palace could not negate his royal blood, or at least he hoped it couldn’t. “This war only brings pain and destruction, as I am sure you have learned today. This is a ship of deserters from the very division you spoke out to protect.”

“Really? That’s good. They’ll be safe,” Zuko was glad that at least some good could come out of all this pain. If his outburst somehow helped these men escape with their lives then maybe it was worth it. 

“Good? These men will be on the run for the rest of their lives. As will I. Possibly, as will you. There is nothing good as long as we are in war,” the man got up to leave, clearly having said everything he needed to. “This is your cabin. Your uncle packed some clothes for you in the trunk,” he opened the door but then stopped. “Be on the deck at one hour past sunrise.”

“Why?” It was already well past midnight. Zuko could feel that sunrise was all too soon. 

“Are you a firebending master yet?” the man asked. 

“No,” Zuko said as the familiar shame rose within him. 

“Then we train at one hour past sunrise,” and with that the man left. 

Zuko tried to sit on the bed and relax but he was wired from the events of the night. He suddenly felt very hot and trapped in the small room that was to be his home for who knew how long. So he got up and walked through the door. The ship was quiet and dark. Zuko understood that this was to make an unseen getaway in the dark of night but the sight still unnerved him. 

Eventually he made his way to the deck. There were only a few crewmen walking about on patrol or keeping the ship moving and no lights were on. He walked to the rail and stood looking out as the last lights of his home faded away. He thought he should be sad or distraught, but all he could think as his home went over the horizon was that the metal was cold and he wished he’d worn shoes to walk with uncle. 

… 

At one hour past sunrise, Zuko stumbled onto the deck. He managed to get a couple of hours of sleep, but not nearly enough. Firebenders rose with the sun so staying up all night was never a good idea. But last night he hadn’t had any choice. Jeong Jeong was waiting there with a cup of very dark tea, but looking no worse for the wear. 

“Take off your shirt, boy. We do not have enough extra clothes around to risk you burning it,” Jeong Jeong said as they finished meditating and stretching, preparing their minds and bodies to control flames. 

“I won’t burn it; I promise,” Zuko said nervously, gripping the hem of his shirt. “I’m not supposed to show my chest in public.”

The look on the old master’s face immediately softened. “So the rumors were true.”

“What rumors?” Zuko did not like the look on his face. He preferred the man’s face gruff and tough. This almost felt like pity. 

“Those scars might have been meant to shame you, but they do not. The only person who should be shamed is your father for giving them to you,” Jeong Jeong put a hand on his shoulder, and Zuko could barely contain the tears in his eyes. 

“I made mistakes; I deserved these punishments. My father was only trying to teach me a lesson.”

“And did you learn anything besides to fear your own father?” Jeong Jeong was searching his face, trying to meet his eyes. Zuko simply shook his head and allowed a few tears to escape his eyes. “Then be proud of your scars. Think of them as a sign that no matter what you stay true to yourself. Do not let lesser men tear you down. Now take me through what movements you know. Let me see what I have to work with.” 

Zuko carefully took off his shirt and folded it into the corner of the deck. With a few deep breaths he began the first kata. 

… 

The days on the ship went mostly the same. For about six weeks, Zuko would wake up with the sun and train with Jeong Jeong on the deck. Then after breakfast he would stay on the bridge to learn about sailing and navigation and help where needed. He’d clean the kitchen after lunch and usually assist in making dinner. He actually came to enjoy cooking. One of the other firebenders aboard tried to teach him how to make tea, and Zuko thought his uncle would be very proud of his efforts. The world slowly began to feel normal once more. 

When the ship docked outside of Ba Sing Se, the deserting soldiers who’d Zuko had come to know made their goodbyes. The deserters were going to stay together, follow Jeong Jeong and attempt to right some of the wrongs of this war. Zuko was not permitted to follow them. Jeong Jeong had informed Zuko that he was going into the walled city. The older master was instructed to leave Zuko with an old friend before rejoining his men. 

Once night had fallen, Zuko wrapped himself in a dark cloak, shouldered the pack of his few belongings and followed Jeong Jeong through a hole in the impenetrable walls and on a long walk through the lower ring of Ba Sing Se. Zuko had never seen anything like it. The smell was overwhelming, the people on the street were hard to look at, and Zuko could not tune out the constant wail of babies crying. Zuko asked Jeong Jeong why the people lived in such poor conditions, fearing that he already knew the answer. 

“These are the refugees of war,” he replied; the shame of having taken such a great part in these people’s pain was evident on his face. 

The pair crawled through another hole in another seemingly impenetrable wall and found themselves in the middle ring. The smell was gone almost immediately, as were the people littering the streets. Something about the immediate difference between the rings did not sit right with Zuko, but he continued following his master. They stopped at the backdoor of a quaint looking tea house in the middle ring. Jeong Jeong rapped on the door in a series of long and short knocks that could not have been random. A slit in the top of the door opened revealing a pair of dark amber eyes that could have been earth kingdom brown just as easily as fire nation gold. 

“Who knocks at the guarded gates?” says a clearly female voice from behind the door. 

“One who has eaten the fruit and tasted its mysteries,” Jeong Jeong replied. Zuko gaped at him in confusion. The door swung open and there stood a petite woman in a green cotton dress with an apron around her waist. Her long black hair had the beginnings of gray streaks, but her entire presence oozed that she could take you down without breaking a sweat, in the same way Azula’s always did. When her eyes landed on Jeong Jeong, a small smile broke across her face. 

“So you made it in one piece,” she said while pulling the older man into a hug that clearly made him uncomfortable. She turned to face the younger boy. “You must be Zuko. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Lana,” she extended her hand. Zuko shook it, clearly uncomfortable with the casual greeting. He was used to bowing and cold consideration, not handshakes and warm smiles. “Come in both of you before anyone sees.” 

“If I’m to make it back out before sunrise I need to be leaving,” Jeong Jeong said and turned to Zuko. “Keep practicing what we’ve been working on. I’ll be back in a few months to continue your training. Don’t let me find that you’ve been slacking,” Zuko nodded and with a pat on the back that was as affectionate as the man could get he was off into the night. 

Zuko followed the new woman through the door into what seemed to be the kitchen of the tea house. “You must have a lot of questions young man; come have a seat,” she gestured to a wooden table and chairs in the corner of the kitchen, then poured two cups of tea from the pot on the stove and sat down. Zuko followed her. “First, I guess I should tell you where you are and what you’re doing here. This is the Nomad Tea House. I have lived here many years, and I run this tea shop. You’re going to live here with me and help. Your uncle said you’re a hard worker, so I’m sure waiting tables and making tea won’t be too much of a challenge,” she reached into a drawer of the kitchen and produced some papers. “I have a passport and other papers for you, I hope you don’t mind the name Lee. It is very common and I thought it would be good not to stick out. There’s a good school down the street that will be reconvening in two weeks. I thought you could go and get to be with some kids your own age.”

“Why?” Zuko asked. 

“What do you mean?” the woman’s eyes were kind in the same way his uncle’s always seemed to be. 

“Why are you doing all this? Why are you helping me? Why did they send me here of all places? Just why?” Zuko’s head was spinning in a way that no twelve year old’s ever should. 

“Can I tell you a story?” The woman took a sip of her tea and kept looking at him with those kind eyes. Zuko nodded even though he did not understand why she wouldn’t just answer his questions. “Once there was a beautiful young woman. She grew up in a poor village in the Earth Kingdom and had big dreams. So one day she went to the nearest city to try and make something more of herself. This city was in the heart of the oldest Fire Nation Colony at Yu Dao. There she got a job serving dumplings and made a happy little life for herself. One day a Fire Nation soldier dressed in all the finery of a top officer but much younger walked into the shop. He took a liking to the woman and soon enough he was taking her on picnics and telling her pretty little lies about marriage and taking her back to his nation. Sooner than would be considered proper the woman found herself to be expecting a child. At first she was thrilled. She loved the man and he’d promised to marry her. She thought they could be a happy family. But when she told the soldier about the baby, he turned away from her. Revealing that he’d never just been a soldier, but was the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. His visit to the colonies was coming to an end and he was to return to the palace and his wife and young son. The woman was devastated. She had the baby but was too afraid to keep it in the colony where the man could potentially find them again. The baby was a threat to the throne now and her identity had to be protected. So she made the long journey with her young daughter to the impenetrable city. She set up a new life, eventually owning her own tea house and only when she was old and frail did she tell her daughter the truth about her father. Not long after the beautiful woman died, the Prince’s son who he’d returned to came to try and break down the walls of the city. The daughter’s curiosity could not be stopped. This man was her brother, the son who fought at his side was her nephew. She snuck through the city one night and found her way to the Fire Nation camp outside the city. She stuck to the shadows and eventually found the general’s tent. In the end, she could not stop herself from slipping through the opening and coming face to face with her brother for the first time. Once she revealed herself, the new Prince was disgusted with his father’s actions, and the two of them bonded quickly. The woman got to meet her nephew and embrace her brother when he died. Once he gave up his siege on the city, she received regular letters from him, often with stories of her other nephew who was young and too kind for palace life. She learned about how her other brother had inherited their father’s cruelty. So when another letter came saying the nephew was in danger she did not hesitate to offer to take him in.” 

Zuko just stared at the woman for a moment. Her eyes reminded him of uncle’s because they were the same. The way she held herself reminded him so much of Azula. “You’re my aunt?”

“Yes. But no one here can know about either of our royal blood. You understand that, right?” Zuko nodded. “I really hope you can be happy here. We could be a real family,” she reached for his hand and smiled at him. A genuine, warm smile that made Zuko feel a little better. 

He followed her up a set of stairs to the apartment above the tea shop. It had a small sitting room with a table big enough for the both of them to eat and some comfortable looking cushions. The walls were lined with bookshelves and even more books and scrolls littered the floor in piles. She apologized for the mess and said Zuko could read anything he liked. This made Zuko smile; he loved a good story. The kitchen was the size of a broom closet in the palace but had a stove, an oven, and enough counter space to do prep work. Compared to the kitchen on the ship, Zuko thought this looked spacious. There were two bedrooms; she pointed to the closer one and said that was hers and just to knock if he ever needed anything. Then she showed him through the other sliding door. Inside was a bed, a dresser, and a small desk. She’d gone ahead and gotten some proper earth kingdom clothes in about his size that were in the dresser. She offered to alter any that didn’t fit the next day. Then promised to help him find some fitting decorations at the market and told him to get some sleep. With a cautious hug, she retired to her own room. 

Zuko spent a long moment sitting on the edge of the bed and trying to process everything that had happened. This new life did not feel real yet. He wondered how long it would take to feel real. He got up and put his few belongings into the dresser, examining the new green and brown clothing. His uncle had packed him a few momentos of home: the knife made in the earth kingdom that he’d given Zuko, the dao swords Master Piandao had made with him at the end of his training, small portraits of Iroh, his mother, and his little sister, and the blue spirit mask his mother had given him from her favorite play. He hung the swords over his bed, placed the portraits on top of his dresser, and hung the mask above his desk. The room was already beginning to feel more like home. 

… 

One of his first shifts serving tea he overheard a conversation. 

“Did you hear about that Fire Prince?” One man asked his companion. This immediately got Zuko’s attention. 

“What about him? The ashmaker commit another war crime?” 

“No, the young one. I think he was like ten or something. He was killed in the palace in the dead of night. The Fire Lord is saying he was assassinated by some Earth Kingdom forces. He’s refusing to let anyone see the body or to give the kid a real state funeral. Apparently he’s claiming there’s no time to mourn in war.”

“That’s cold, even for the ashmakers. Why would the Earth King want to kill a ten year old? If they could get into the palace like that wouldn’t they go for the head guy himself?” 

“I don’t know. The whole thing seems sketchy to me. I’d almost bet that the Fire Lord had him killed and won’t let anyone see the body cause of the burns. There’s been rumors for years that the guy wasn’t his son’s biggest fan. And now his untimely death is the best piece of propaganda the Fire Nation has had in years! Seems fishy. I heard military recruitment is way up.” 

“That’s fucked up, man,” someone nearby shushed the men and reminded them that there was no war in Ba Sing Se, and that was the end of the conversation. 

Zuko could feel the tears in his eyes and hurried to the kitchen before anyone could see. Lana was beside him in an instant and helped him to a chair. “Is it true?” he choked out over the lump in his throat. “They think I’m dead and my father wouldn’t even give me the proper rites.”

“They’ve been telling the world you’re dead. The White Lotus made your disappearance look like a kidnapping, not a murder. It was your father who decided not to look for you. He’s been using your death to rally troops. There has been no official notice of a funeral or rites. I’m so sorry,” she put her hands on Zuko’s shoulders and slowly enveloped him in a hug as he cried. 

“He never wanted me,” from that moment on he had no misconceptions about what it was he ran away from. 

… 

His new life became normal faster than expected. He learned how to wait tables and interact with customers, quickly getting the reputation of being a young man of few words but a good listener. His tea making skills weren’t great, but his baking improved quickly and became a major selling point for the shop. He went to school and made a few friends. He grew to love a sport called sepak takraw that required players to get a ball over a net using only their feet and knees; his flexibility and firebending training gave him what some might consider an unfair advantage. He woke up with the sun every morning and meditated then baked. On weekends, he went to the abandoned fields on the outskirts of the city and practiced his bending. During his breaks from school, he’d either go stay with Jeong Jeong and his deserters or Master Piandao to train. His uncle usually visited at least once a year on the pretext of a Prince’s tour of the colonies which almost always happened to align with Zuko’s birthday, he could never stay long but he wrote to Zuko and Lana often. Lana proved to be a skilled scholar who taught him about arts and science and made him feel truly, unconditionally loved for the first time. Six years passed this way, it was a nice life. 

On his fifteenth birthday, Master Jeong Jeong declared he was a firebending master. The old master claimed he’d been a master for some weeks but wanted to keep it a birthday surprise. After his sixteenth birthday he was brought to his first White Lotus meeting. He’d heard about the group from Lana and was slowly brought in. He learned of the network that allowed for his escape and continued security. He even received his own white lotus tile, despite being rubbish at Pai Sho. They often talk about him theoretically challenging for the throne someday. He believed that one day he could help bring balance to the world. He did not know how soon that day would come. 

A few weeks before his eighteenth birthday, the entire city was abuzz. The eyes of the Avatar shrine at the edge of the city had glowed; the Avatar had returned. 


	2. The Hunt: Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Zuko makes some friends and discovers the power of asking nicely

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to do my best to update this fic every Friday. If I have a good backlog or a lot of free time or need the praise serotonin I may update more often than that (like right now) but expect Friday updates for the most part. 
> 
> I love this chapter and I hope you do too! Let me know what you think in the comments <3

“Hey, it’s my boy Lee with the great cup of tea!” Fuhu declares to the resounding cheer of their small friend group as Zuko arrives at their usual lunch spot. He passes around a box full of a new tea cookie recipe he was trying, much to everyone’s delight. “So, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,” Fuhu continues while giving Zuko a quick jab to the ribs. “The Avatar is back so this war is pretty much over. We all need a new plan since the military won’t be such a lucrative option anymore,” most of their friend group groaned, they were in their last year of a military academy, after all. Fuhu likes to make sweeping declarations, loudly. And a declaration like that, made loud enough, could get them all a detention writing ‘there is no war in Ba Sing Se’ until their hands want to fall off. Until graduation, the need for a military was just in theory. 

“I don’t know; how much could one guy really do?” Nova states. “Just be happy you’re safe. That’s all we can really hope for,” Nova was born in a small village that no longer exists thanks to the Fire Nation. She has a harder time having blind hope. Most of Zuko’s friends were not born in Ba Sing Se. When he showed up midway through the year when they were twelve he naturally gravitated towards the refugee kids who were more accepting of his clearly Fire Nation features and unclear origins. He really wished his father wasn’t the reason for so much of their pain. 

“I don’t know, a little bit of hope never hurt anyone, right Lee?” Kyra added. She looked at Zuko with  _ that look _ that Zuko understood but consistently chose to ignore and feign ignorance. 

“Yeah, sure,” he replied, hoping that this conversation would end. “Did you guys hear about the Earth Rumble last night? Wei Fu absolutely pummeled the Rock Monster,” and with that the subject was changed. Zuko did not want to think about the Avatar and world peace anymore than he already was. 

… 

That night as he sits down to dinner with Lana, she pulls out a scroll with his uncle’s wax seal already broken. Zuko is pretty sure he knows what the letter says, but doesn’t like it. “It’s about the Avatar, isn't it?” Lana just nods. Zuko finally notices the tears collecting in the corners of her eyes and walks around the table to wrap his arms around her. 

“No, stop this. I should be comforting you!” She turns to him and places a comforting hand on his cheek. “You’re too good for this world, you know that right?” He can’t help but smile sadly at her. 

“The Order wants me to leave you and find them?” She nods as the first tear escapes the corner of her eye. He moves to wipe it away. “I won’t be gone forever. I’ll find him and teach him some firebending, maybe fight my father. Then I’ll come back. I promise.”

She smiles at him and he returns to his seat to eat. “You better not be gone forever. Losing your baking will do a number on my sales.” They both laugh for a moment. “You’ll be safe? And you’ll write when you can? And you’ll make sure to actually eat three meals everyday? I mean real food, none of this ‘a cup of tea is breakfast’ nonsense you seem so fond of.”

“I can write down what I eat everyday and include it in my letters if it’ll make you feel better,” he smirks at her. “We both knew that I had to do this the second we heard the Avatar returned.”

“I know, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“I feel that,” the two of them continue making a plan late into the night. Lana would ask around to see if there were any sightings of the Avatar for him to follow. He’d travel light and be ready to go as soon as he had a direction. Once he was gone she’d tell everyone his grandmother was sick and he’d gone to take care of her. The White Lotus has members all over the world, and Zuko knows the right procedure to get help when he needs it. 

In the end, it is Fuhu’s loudmouth that ultimately sends Zuko off. “I had to go pick up a shipment of fish for my dad at the wall last night,” Fuhu’s father is the local grocer, so this was not an abnormal occurrence. “One of the fishermen told me the Avatar has been staying on Kyoshi Island.” 

That night Zuko left the impenetrable city the same way he came. 

… 

A few days later the small trading ship he’d hitched a ride on arrived on Kyoshi. He disembarked and strolled along the main street of houses and shops trying to decide where to start. The small wooden structures were built in a style he did not recognize and he was admittedly distracted looking at them. Maybe that is why he didn’t notice the green clad, painted woman come up behind him until the razor sharp fan was against his neck. 

“What are you looking for, stranger? Traders are supposed to stay by the docks,” the woman said, her voice had an air of power to it that made Zuko shiver. 

“I’m not a trader. I’m looking for the Oyaji of this village,” he tried to sound strong and confident even with a blade at his throat. 

“Follow me,” she said as she lowered the fan to stand directly in front of him. “But make no mistake, one wrong move and I’m feeding you to the Unagi.” Zuko did not doubt that. He followed her to a wooden building at the end of the street that was slightly larger than the others, then into a room with a few seats on a dais. Inside were two other green clad painted women. “Ta Sho, go tell Oyaji he has a visitor,” his guide said, and one of the other girls ran off. She motioned for him to kneel on a cushion which he did. 

An older man with the thickest top knot Zuko had ever seen and a huge beard came in a few minutes later and sat on the dais. “I am the Oyaji of this village. And who are you young man?”

Zuko smiled, he always found the Order’s codes slightly ridiculous, but he played along. “An old friend. Could I bother you for a game of Pai Sho?” 

The look on the older man’s face was utter shock. Zuko did always enjoy the moment older members realized exactly who he was. “Guards, leave us. Suki please stay and pull out the table from the corner,” the two girls by the door left quickly and his original guide, Suki, pulled a small table with a Pai Sho board into the middle of the room. Oyaji stepped down from the dais and sat at one side. Zuko moved to sit across from him. 

“The guest has the first move,” Oyaji says and Zuko pulls the white lotus tile from its hidden pocket in his sleeve then places it on the board. Suki looked dumbstruck at the tile and he realizes she hasn’t been initiated. He couldn’t help the small feeling of superiority. “I see you favor the white lotus gambit. Not many still cling to the ancient ways.”

“Those who do can always find a friend,” Zuko replied with a smirk. These codes were weird. They played a fast paced game with no winner that made the shape of a flower on the board. This part Zuko always felt was extra weird. Anyone watching would immediately realize this was a secret code, the board didn’t even look like a game of Pai Sho. 

“Welcome brother! The White Lotus opens wide to those who know her secrets,” Oyaji said, clapping Zuko on the shoulder. 

“What the fuck did I just see?” The dumbstruck look has not left Suki’s painted face. 

“I was planning to teach you about all this before you and the other warrior left, Suki. But I thought with our guest here there was no time like the present. These are some of the codes of the secret organization I started telling you about,” Oyaji said. He looked at Zuko now. “This is Suki. She will be my inductee and successor. You two are the next generation of the Order, I’m glad you get to meet,” then to Suki. “Suki dear, sit down. This is Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. His uncle is one of the most senior members of Order.”

Now both teens looked dumbstruck. They spoke at the same time. 

“You know who I am!?!?”

“ _ FIRE NATION _ !?!?”

“Suki, he is a member of the Order and works towards peace and balance just like the rest of us. Zuko, you look so much like your father that I am surprised the entire world does not know who you are. Now what brings you to my village?” 

“I heard the Avatar was here. The Order has tasked me to find him, protect him, and teach him to firebend if he doesn’t already know,” Zuko stated. 

“The Avatar was here, he actually left just yesterday. I’m sorry you missed him. He and two companions are heading north to find a waterbending teacher,” Oyaji said. 

“Do you have any more information on him? I didn’t even know it was a man until you just implied it. Is he a 114 year old Air Nomad? A Water Tribe kid? What am I even looking for?” Zuko had been dying to ask someone these questions. 

“You’re in for quite the shock. He is a fourteen year old Air Nomad,” Zuko gaped at him. That was impossible. “The boy was frozen in an iceberg for the last hundred years. He didn’t even know about the Air Nomad genocide until just before he got here,” Oyaji had a little gleam in his eye. The man clearly loved to gossip. 

“Seriously,” Zuko also loved a little gossip. “Do you know anything else?”

“I’ve got an idea,” the gleam in Oyaji’s eye intensified. “Suki, why don’t you take our guest back to your apartment for the night. It is almost dark out. You can tell him all about the Avatar and his companions and their next moves over dinner, and we can send him on his way in the morning.” 

Both teens looked at the man in bewilderment but before they knew it he was ushering them out the door. “Did your town elder just set us up?” Zuko asked her once they were alone outside the building. 

“He’s a weird old man,” she replied. 

“Welcome to the Order. It’s almost entirely weird old men,” he huffed a laugh. 

“Great, I mean, you’re cute and all, but no thanks,” Suki laughed as well. 

“Right back at ya,” she began walking, and he followed. “Where are we going?”

“If I’m supposed to feed you dinner, we’ll have to stop by the market,” the two of them walked in a companionable silence until they reached the small grocer by the docks. Suki exchanged a few words with the man behind the counter who then filled a small basket with some fish and vegetables which was placed in Zuko’s arms before they left the shop. Suki headed away from the main street with Zuko right behind her. 

“This might sound like a weird question. But didn’t you die a few years back?” Suki asked once no one else was in ear shot. 

“Kind of,” he replied with a grimace. This was not his favorite topic of conversation. “My father had been planning to kill me, so the Order sort of kidnapped me and raised me in secret in Ba Sing Se.” 

She stopped in her tracks so quickly that Zuko almost ran into her. “I knew your response couldn’t be good but that’s somehow so much worse than I expected.”

“Yeah,” might as well put it all out there. “Then he lied to the world that the Earth King had me killed and refused to give me the proper rites.” 

She gaped at him in disbelief. “As if I needed more of a reason to hate that guy,” she began walking again. Soon he followed her into a much larger building than the ones on the main street that looked like a nicer version of the lower ring tenements. Inside was a hallway lined with doors, Suki ushered him through one near the end of the hall. Inside was a one room apartment with a bed along one wall, a small table in the middle covered in papers, and a stove in the corner. “Welcome to my place. Make yourself comfortable. I’m going to go wash off my paint real quick so don’t do anything weird while I’m gone,” and she walked through the only door in the apartment which clearly led to a small bathroom. 

Zuko put the basket of groceries on the bit of counter next to the stove and started getting everything together for dinner. By the time Suki emerged from the bathroom, water was boiling for rice; the fish had been deboned, and the vegetables had been chopped. Suki was impressed and the two of them finished preparing the meal together while chatting. Once the food was ready, Suki cleared some of the papers off her table and they sat down. She didn’t have people over often and thought this was as good a reason as any to pull out the bottle of rice wine she had left over from the last harvest festival. 

“So what do you know about the Avatar and his companions?” He asked once they were settled. 

“The Avatar's name is Aang. He’s a nice kid, a bit naive and likes to show off. Great airbender but can’t do anything else yet. He’s traveling with a pair of siblings from the Southern Water Tribe named Sokka and Katara. Sokka was a bit of a hot head when he first got here but trained with the warriors for a bit. I beat the misogyny right out of him,” she smirked at the memory. “Katara seemed really nice, but I didn’t really get to know her. Be careful of them though.”

“Why? Are they dangerous?”

“Not exactly. I don’t know what they feed them down south, but they are really attractive. Every one of my warriors had a thing for Sokka or Katara. Some of them even liked both. Be careful,” Zuko couldn’t help but laugh at that. 

“Don’t worry. I won’t be distracted by a cute girl,” he smirked at her. 

“You say that now. But just you wait. Katara will have you eating those words. Make sure to give Sokka a kiss for me once you find him,” she winked and they both started laughing. 

“How old are they?” he asked, once they’d both settled down.

“Sokka’s seventeen. Katara is sixteen, I think.”

“Did she have anything on her neck?” He's remembering an old Water Tribe custom that Lana had taught him about. 

“Yeah, she had a necklace on. Why?” Suki replied. 

“Then it’s a moot point anyway. Those necklaces are a symbol of betrothal in the Water Tribes. She’s taken,” he added. She looked impressed that he knew that. “Did they say where they were heading next?” 

“Aang mentioned wanting to stop in Omashu. If I were you, I’d check there,” and once again he had a direction. 

The two of them spent the rest of the night talking and drinking a bit too much of that rice wine. Zuko even managed to scrounge together the ingredients for some cookies from Suki’s small pantry. He had to use his bending to bake them since she didn’t have an oven. A skill that Suki proclaimed was the best use for firebending ever. At the end of the night he unfurled his bed roll and curled up on the floor. 

The next morning she walked him to the dock and helped him find a trading boat that was heading in the right direction. Before he boarded she pulled him into a tight hug. 

“You could come with me. I bet Team Avatar would be happy to have you, especially if everything you told me about your time with Sokka was true,” he said with a wiggle of his eyebrows. 

“Maybe if I had my successor trained I would. But I can’t leave my warriors right now,” she replied. “I have a good feeling we’ll be seeing each other again though. I don’t think my part of this story is over.”

“Well then you better start training your successor because next time I won’t take no for an answer.” 

… 

After four days on the boat, Zuko got off at the next town over from Omashu. There was a supposedly secret tunnel through the mountains that no one went in due to some curse. Old King Bumi had told a story about these mountains at one of the Order meetings he’d been to. Zuko knew that the only way through was to follow the green luminescent crystals. He made it to Omashu by nightfall that day. 

At the gate, he pulls out his white lotus tile. One guard clearly knows the procedure. During training they were instructed that if anyone produced a white lotus tile at the gate, they were to be brought straight to the palace game room. Zuko thought it was a testament to Bumi’s crazy reputation that no one seemed to question that. As they walked, Zuko couldn’t help but overhear their conversation. 

“What is this week, man? First that kid dressed as an old man lies his way into the city and rides the mail chutes. Then it turns out he’s the freaking Avatar. Then King Bumi starts riding the mail chutes himself and now someone’s actually using the Pai Sho entrance,” the first guard said. 

“Yeah, part of me feels like this week’s just been on too much cactus juice,” they both laughed at that. Zuko was ecstatic to hear that the Avatar was here. 

The men brought him into a receiving room in the palace where a Pai Sho board was set up and left him there. Zuko waited, and waited for what felt like too long. Then the door opened again and King Bumi himself walked in, in a fairly ostentatious purple cloak. “Zuko!” he said while wrapping the teen in a hug and ruffling his hair. “It’s been too long. Shall we play?” he motioned to the board. 

“You know who I am. Do we really need to go about all this code nonsense?” Zuko replied, sounding a bit more like an insolent teen than usual. 

“Eh you’re probably fine,” the King shrugged and sat down at one of the chairs. “Does this mean you’re actually going through with our plan?”

“Why am I not surprised to hear that you had something to do with sending me out to chase the Avatar?” Zuko took the seat across from him. Bumi gave him a wide, toothy smile and a knowing look. 

“If I’d known you were coming I’d have tried to keep Aang here longer,” Bumi said mournfully. “I’m afraid he moved on the day before yesterday.” 

“Any idea where he was going?” 

“Just North. I’m pretty sure they’ll stick to the coast so you should probably do the same,” he said getting up. “Come on, you’ll stay here tonight and I’ll get you reprovisioned for your journey.”

“Thanks, Bumi. Could I also borrow some scrolls? I’d like to let Aunt Lana and Uncle Iroh know that I’m okay.” 

“Of course, I’ll have them sent out with the morning mail,” the old king took on a mischievous look. “You wouldn’t be interested in taking a ride with me in the morning, would you?” 

… 

After an ill advised go at the mail chutes and the subsequent motion sickness, Zuko was off again with a bit less direction than before. He picks his way along the coast stopping at every port town to ask about Avatar sightings. In a small mining town he hears about the recent takeover of a prison rig full of earthbenders led by a sixteen year old girl in blue. Zuko’s first thought is that it might have been that Katara Suki had mentioned so he decides to investigate. A man with a fishing boat is heading out to the rig to see if there are any supplies that he can salvage and agrees to take Zuko with him. 

Zuko immediately realizes that there is nothing for him to find on this prison rig and just has to wait until the fisherman is ready to leave. He paces the top deck for a while when something catches his eye. Upon further inspection it is a carved white stone on a blue ribbon. A Water Tribe betrothal necklace. At least he knew that the trio had been here. He pockets the necklace, assuming that this Katara girl was probably upset to have lost a present from her fiance. 

When they returned to the mining town the fisherman pointed out the shop where a man named Tyro lived and worked who might have some more information. Zuko helps the man unload his haul from the prison rig then heads to the shop. Inside is a boy about Zuko’s age spinning rocks above his palm. 

“Excuse me, is Tyro here? I was told he could tell me a bit more about the girl who led the prison rig escape,” he asks the boy. 

“What do you want with Katara?” The boy stands, trying to be intimidating. 

“I’m looking for her and her friends,” Zuko puts his hands up, trying to show that he means no harm. 

“Why?”

“To help them.” 

“Why?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do.”

“Are you a firebender?” Zuko froze, sweat broke out on the back of his neck. 

“What!? No! Why would you even say something like that?” He is not a good liar. 

“You’re so warm, I can feel you over here. Only ashmakers are this hot,” he smirks. Zuko curses the physical exertion of unloading the boat. “You’re also a terrible liar. Now tell me what you want with Katara before I pummel you.” 

Zuko decides at least some of the truth is his best bet. “She’s travelling with the Avatar. A secret society of his supporters sent me to teach him firebending.”

“Is that so? Well based on how poorly you denied being a firebender, I can’t help but believe you. What’s your name?”

“Lee,” he didn’t need to know the whole truth. 

“I’m Haru,” the boy reaches out his hand and Zuko shakes it gratefully. “Katara got out of town right after the revolution. There’s a town with a spiritual disturbance in the mountains. I bet that’s where they were headed. I can mark it for you on a map. You can crash in the barn tonight.” 

“Thank you!” Haru fortunately does not mention that his new friend is a firebender to his parents. And Zuko is more aware of controlling his body heat. His mother looks at Zuko skeptically, muttering something about Haru getting arrested the last time he brought new friends home. After dinner Zuko sits with Haru on a rock overlooking the ocean. 

“Can you show me a bit of fire?” Haru asks. Zuko creates a perfect sphere of fire in his palm then rolls it along his arm until it disappears into the neck of his tunic. It’s one of his aunt’s favorite tricks. “That’s so cool.”

“Can you show me that rock spinning trick again?” Zuko never gets to bend with anyone his own age like this. Haru spins three small rocks above his palm. Zuko creates three smaller spheres of fire and manages to spin them for a few seconds before one goes haywire and almost burns a hole in Zuko’s shirt which makes Haru laugh. Then suddenly they’re both laughing. 

“I’m jealous, bro. I wish I could have gone with them and travelled the world. You all are going to have so much fun,” Haru said wistfully. 

“You could come with me to find them. It sounds like the Avatar still needs an earthbending teacher too,” Zuko replies. 

“I wish. But we just got this town back from the Fire Nation. I just got my dad back from the Fire Nation. I couldn’t leave now,” Zuko understands that. “But I do wish I could’ve spent more time with Katara,” Haru says with a wink. 

“What is it with these Water Tribe siblings? You are not the first person to mention their allure,” Zuko is incredulous at this point. 

“You’ll see. It’s not just that she’s hot, which she is. But she has so much hope and faith, it’s contagious. Trust me, she tells you that she believes in you and the next thing you know you’ll be doing stupid stuff like revealing you’re an earthbender to save some random guy from a mine collapse even though it’s super illegal to earthbend.”

“So that’s how you got caught? You lovesick teenager,” Zuko couldn’t help laughing at him. 

“Yeah,” Haru rolled his eyes. “At least I got a kiss on the cheek for my bravery.”

“That’s it!” Zuko was laughing hysterically at this point. 

“You know what, you write me a letter once Katara’s put you under her spell. You’ll see,” Zuko didn’t have the heart to tell him what the necklace in his pocket meant. 

The two boys stayed on the rock until the moon rose high in the sky. In the morning Zuko set off towards the town with the spiritual disturbance. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My personal headcanon is that Suki and Zuko are best friends. Also this less emotionally traumatized Zuko has post redemption arc Zuko's dry sense of humor and sarcasm which is a winning combo in my book. Turns out finding the avatar is a lot easier when you ask people nicely. 
> 
> Also I find it hilarious how every properly aged character in the show seriously blushes at either Sokka or Katara (looking at you Suki, Haru, Yue, Aang, Toph, Jet, Ty Lee...). They must feed them something special in the Water Tribes.


	3. The Hunt: Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I know I promised Friday updates but it snowed like 10 inches last night so we're going skiing tomorrow so I'm putting this out a day early. Enjoy!

Haru had given Zuko a map with a clearly marked trail to Senlin Village. It would be about a two day walk into the forest. Zuko half heartedly realized that this would put him on the road, alone on the Winter Solstice, also known as his birthday. If he rushed, he could probably make it to the village in the afternoon of his birthday. Part of him thought that finding the Avatar would be a pretty good birthday present. 

He was lost in his thoughts while putting one foot in front of the other on the path out of town. On the second morning of his journey, he should have entered a lush forest. Instead the soil under his feet changed from brown to black. Zuko cursed under his breath at the destruction all around him. The Fire Nation had been here; his people had been here. Someone acting on his father’s orders had destroyed acres of untouched forest. It made him sick. Trees grew back, but it would never be the same. It would be generations before this forest had a shadow of its previous beauty. Zuko wondered if he would ever get used to seeing the destruction his family brought to the world. 

Zuko picked up his pace. He did not want to spend anymore time in this husk of a forest than he had to. It was the day of the Winter Solstice, and he did not want to spend such a spiritual time in such a spiritually imbalanced place. Thanks to his new haste, Zuko reached Senlin Village about an hour past midday. Since the day was so short, the sun was already beginning to dip in the sky. 

The entire village seemed to be in the streets celebrating. He knew that it was not common in this part of the Earth Kingdom to celebrate the solstice. Zuko stopped the first villager who did not seem to be in a rush . 

“Excuse me,” he said with a deferential bow to his elder. “What is everyone celebrating?”

The man looked him up and down and apparently decided he was not threatening. He smiled at Zuko. “The Avatar has rid this village of an angry spirit!” 

“That’s amazing,” Zuko’s hopes went up higher than they probably should have at that moment. “Is the Avatar here for the celebration?”

The man’s face fell slightly. “No, the Avatar insisted that he had to leave a few hours ago. He went to a temple in the Fire Nation to commune with the last Avatar on the Solstice.” Well  _ shit _ . 

The man introduced himself to Zuko as Pelo and asked what he was doing in town. Zuko introduced himself as Lee and told the man he was passing through while traveling north. The celebratory mood of the village must have rubbed off on Pelo because the man invited Zuko to dinner at his home and to sleep in his barn. Zuko gratefully accepted and spent a lovely evening with Pelo, his wife, and their two young sons. 

That night as Zuko laid in the barn staring at nothing he couldn’t help feeling disheartened. He was mad. He’d missed them by a few hours. This was the closest he’d been during his journey and now the trail was cold. There was no way he could follow the Avatar to the Fire Nation. He may be able to be anonymous in the Earth Kingdom but in the Fire Nation people know what his father looks like. Zuko looked too much like him to safely show his face. ‘If only he had some kind of distracting facial feature,’ he thought. Also there was no way he could find a ship heading that way. It would be logistically impossible to get there. Everywhere Zuko had gone so far he’d been able to get a direction for his next move. Now Zuko was lost. He knew that they would end up at the Northern Water Tribe, but he’d been hoping to find them long before that. The North Pole was still weeks of travel away. Zuko wasn’t sure where to go from here. 

As he drifted off to sleep on his eighteenth birthday, Zuko felt more like the lost twelve year old boy who couldn’t sleep his first night on the ship than a man. 

… 

The next morning Zuko helped Pelo repair an old fence to repay the man for his kindness. He no longer felt like he was in such a rush, where was he going to go anyway. Over breakfast, Pelo marked a safe path to a friendly town to the north of them, Gaipan. Zuko decided that was as good a destination as any. It would be a few days trek. Just after midmorning Zuko bid Pelo and his family goodbye and followed the path out of town. 

A few hours outside of Senlin Village Zuko heard the undeniable sound of an out of tune lute. The sound was getting closer. Once Zuko broke through the treeline in front of him, he saw a stream running down into the nearby valley. Sitting on the bank was a small group of people being led in song by a woman with a large flower in her hair and a man with a shaggy head dress and a necklace of flowers. Zuko couldn't help but stare at the strange site of this small group. The man spotted him with a loopy smile. 

“Hello there, tree person!” He called across the clearing. 

“I’m not a tree person,” Zuko replied for lack of anything else to say.

“Then what kind of person are you?” Zuko couldn’t help but wonder if he means for that to sound so deep?

“Just a regular person, I guess.”

“Aren’t we all,” the man said wistfully. “I’m Chong and this is my wife Lily. We’re nomads. Who are you, friend?”

“Hi, I’m Lee,” he waved and took a cautious step towards the group so they wouldn’t have to yell. 

Lily crossed the clearing towards him and placed a flower crown on his head. “Come join us!” she chirped. His first instinct was to refuse. But he’s already lost so what does he have to lose. He sat down in the circle between a woman in a red wrap dress with flowers behind each ear and a man with a triangular hat. Chong and Lily began leading the group in a song about a spirit swamp that sounds like a pretty trippy place. Zuko found himself tapping along to the beat and someone handed him a tambourine that he had a really good time banging on. Everyone seemed to have an instrument of some kind and he wasn't even sure that everyone was playing the same song. It’s one of the weirdest things that Zuko’s ever seen. He’s positive that everyone being this happy and calm is not natural. 

The sun was beginning to go down, and Zuko realized that he had to get somewhere to make camp before the sun set completely. Someone offered that he could stay with the nomads in the clearing for the night. Zuko’s why not attitude took over again and he accepted. 

Zuko is a teenager. He is aware of the small roll that is being passed around for everyone to inhale. Hanging around people while they are high has never bothered Zuko so he doesn’t say anything, but decides he shouldn’t partake. Someone starts passing around a tin of cookies and Zuko obliviously takes one. It has an earthy flavor that reminds Zuko vaguely of when he adds matcha to the tea cakes, but different. 

About a half hour later the last rays of sun are passing over the horizon and Zuko feels the world slow down around him. Everything seems a little brighter, the voices around him are muted, and the ground feels alive beneath him. He feels alive and… hungry. So hungry. There is a sudden panic in his mind that everyone knows how hungry he is. As slowly and subtly as he can he grabs a dumpling from the middle of the circle and returns to his seat. He waits what he feels is an appropriate amount of time and then does this again. What he does not realize is that in reality only about a minute had passed between dumplings. This goes on for five or six dumplings. 

The man next to him who’d introduced himself as Moku is laying back staring at the sky. He invites Zuko to join him so Zuko lays back with his hands clasped behind his head. He can feel the energy of the grass beneath them. 

“What kind of person are you, Lee?” Moku asks him. That question feels even deeper now than it did when Chong had asked him earlier. 

“I don’t know, man. I want to be a good person. But that’s hard. There aren’t a lot of good people in my family. What if I don’t know how to be good? Do you inherit goodness from your parents, cause if so I might be screwed,” Zuko replied, unsure why he was talking so much. He usually didn’t volunteer personal information like that. 

“No one else can determine goodness for you,” Zuko hoped that was true but sometimes he wasn’t sure. 

“I just feel like I’m really bad at being good,” Zuko continued. It felt good to get it off his chest for once. “I mean I try really hard. I tried to do the right thing when I was a kid and now I’ll probably never get to see my home again. I left my little sister behind. We fought a lot but I love her and I worry about her. I hope she’s happy but I doubt she is. My dad tried to kill me at least twice, that I know about. My mom left me behind, she said it was to protect me, but that still hurts. And then I left my sister behind so maybe it runs in the family. I tried to be good for my aunt but in the end I had to leave her behind too. And now I can’t even track down a goddamn fourteen year old. I just can’t seem to catch a break.”

“That’s rough, buddy,” Moku looked him in the eye and Zuko knew that he meant it. It was rough. 

Zuko nodded. “Yeah, the world’s fucked up.”

“That it is,” they laid there in silence for a while until Zuko’s limbs started to feel unnaturally heavy. He pried his arm off the ground and pulled a small pouch of fire flakes out of the side of his pack. He ate a handful, then let the ground engulf his leaden body and fell into a deep sleep. 

… 

The next morning Zuko found out that the nomads were also traveling in the general direction of Gaipan. They moved significantly slower than he would on his own, but he decided to stick with them anyway. He liked the company. He was careful from then on to ask what was in the cookies before eating them. While the previous night had been fun, Zuko felt like he should keep his senses sharp. 

He found it very entertaining that the nomads sang as they walked. Well he found it entertaining for about an hour; then he found it quite annoying. The group made camp a few hours before sunset near a river. Zuko looked at his map and realized how little progress they’d made that day. He’d have to strike off on his own again in the morning. He was never going to find a new direction just lolling around with the nomads. 

That night as everyone was singing around the campfire Zuko felt himself just being for once. It felt good to just live in this moment and enjoy it. He made a mental note to write to Lana about this whole experience. She’d find the nomads hilarious, and he would just leave out the cookie he ate. He also realized that he had only written to her once in the few weeks since leaving, and that had been way back in Omashu. He’d have to look into a messenger hawk station in Gaipan. 

… 

Two and a half very uneventful days later Zuko arrived in Gaipan. The town was larger than Senlin Village but still not large, especially in comparison to Ba Sing Se. Zuko doubted that anywhere would feel big again after his years in the impenetrable city. The town was under Fire Nation occupation at the moment, but Zuko was pretty sure that he wouldn’t be recognized as long as he kept his head down. He decided that after a few weeks of switching between sleeping in people’s spare rooms and barns or on the ground that he could splurge for a bed at an inn for the night. It was mid afternoon with the sun getting close to setting, so Zuko went straight to the tavern at the end of the town with the sign saying rooms for rent. The man behind the counter who was the owner haggled with him over the price of the room for the night and in the end they came to a fair agreement and the man even threw in a pint on the house. Zuko went up to his room, put down his bag, and took one of the most satisfying baths of his life. It had been a while since he’d bathed in anything but freezing streams and rivers. Later he went back into the tavern and bought a warm bowl of stew to accompany his pint. He met a group of local guys about his age. There was little he could connect with them over but he listened and enjoyed their stories for a few hours before turning in for the night. 

He awoke the next morning to absolute pandemonium. The entire town seemed to be screaming. He quickly got dressed, put his pack back together, and ran down into the tavern. The owner was there frantically putting valuables into a bag. 

“What’s going on?” Zuko shouted over the noise of the street. 

“Apparently someone is trying to blow up the damn. The whole town’s gonna flood. We have to evacuate!” Zuko gaped at him for a moment before offering to help him carry what he could out. The man gratefully handed Zuko the already full bag in his hands and picked up a second bag, filling it quickly before they both rushed outside. 

The street was disorienting. There were people rushing in every direction and screaming. Zuko followed the crowd towards the town gates until he saw a little girl crying in front of an already abandoned doorway. He rushed over to her and took a knee to be on her level. 

“Hey there, where’s your parents?” He tried to sound calm. 

“I don’t know. I was with them and then I dropped my doll and turned around to get it and then they were gone. And I never found my doll,” she started crying harder and Zuko began to panic. 

“It’s going to be ok,” he said, putting his hands on the girls shoulders. “Why don’t you come with me and we can find them together? I’m sure they’re worried about you,” she nodded her agreement and lifted both her arms as if she expected to be picked up. Zuko acquiesced and lifted her into his arms while wishing he had not agreed to help the tavern owner carry a bag out as well. 

The whole town seemed to be congregating a safe distance away from the damn in the forest surrounding the town. Once he’d arrived a crying woman ran up to him grabbing for the girl in his arms and thanking him profusely. Zuko ensured the girl was safe with her parents before going to find the tavern owner to return his bag. He was standing with the tavern owner when the damn finally blew. The town washed away into the sea like it had never been there in the first place. He looked around him at the group of now displaced people. Earth Kingdom citizens and Fire Nation soldiers leaned on each other for support as their homes disappeared. Zuko couldn’t help but wonder who would do such a thing. 

“Who warned you about this attack?” Zuko asked no one in particular. 

“This is going to sound weird but a very attractive teenager in Water Tribe blues showed up on a flying bison this morning,” a Fire Nation soldier said. “I wasn’t going to believe him but one of the elders in the town vouched for the young man. Thank goodness he did, or we’d all be dead.”

Water Tribe blues and a flying bison. Zuko wasn’t sure if this could be considered a stroke of luck, but he quietly disappeared deeper in the forest. 

Quickly, he came upon a group of boys around a tree. The leader appeared to be frozen to the tree. A boy who was definitely still a child and a tall boy with a bow strapped to his back were trying to break up the ice with rocks. A small girl with stripes on her face was standing a few feet away scowling at a disappearing object in the sky. 

“I can’t believe you trusted that girl, Jet. You have to think with your head, not your hormones. What did you expect? Her to just betray her brother,” the girl said. The boy frozen to the tree, Jet, hung his head and opened his mouth a few times to try and defend himself but ultimately said nothing. 

The girl’s scowl moved down until it landed directly on Zuko. He wanted to melt away, but he’d been spotted and froze. 

“Who are you and what do you want?” The girl shouted at him across the clearing. 

“Um, I’m Lee. I was just looking-” for what? These people looked like trouble and he didn’t want to tell them the truth. But he hadn’t thought this through. “For the guy who warned us about the flood. I wanted to thank him,” that sounded like a reasonable excuse to be looking for him. Zuko mentally patted himself on the back. 

A moment later the girl had crossed the clearing and was right in front of him with a knife. “Those traitors don’t deserve your thanks,” she looked him up and down. “Are you Fire Nation?”

“No!” Zuko replied because he could tell that was the right answer. He looked at the group again and realized that these must have been the people who destroyed the damn. Zuko remembered the Water Tribe girl with the Avatar and assumed that was who froze Jet to the tree and who he’d trusted. Again Zuko wondered about this girl’s apparent siren powers. 

“Looks pretty Fire Nation to me,” Jet said, breaking through the last of the ice with a loud  _ Crack!  _ and walking menacingly towards him despite the limp in his step. 

“Nope, not Fire Nation. Just Lee from Ba Sing Se,” Zuko hoped that the bit of truth would make his lie more believable. 

“Why are you here, Lee from Ba Sing Se?” The girl asked as the knife got closer to his neck. 

“I’m just travelling through. I was staying in the inn in town when everyone started evacuating,” can’t be a bad liar if it’s the truth. 

“Where are you heading?” 

Zuko quickly thought of the map in his pack to think of another reasonable destination. 

“Ponhai,” the next town north, the biggest port in this region. Good thinking on his feet. 

“What’s in Ponhai?” Jet was getting into his personal space now. 

“Family,” Zuko said, remembering his cover story with Lana. “My grandmother is sick. I’m heading to take care of her.”

“What a good grandson,” Jet said while fingering his hooked swords in their scabbard. Jet pulled his swords out and Zuko knew he was in trouble. “Don’t lie to us, gold eyes. You’re Fire Nation!” he lunges at Zuko with his swords. On reflex Zuko grabs his own swords from behind his back and easily deflects Jet’s attack. The other boy keeps attacking, and Zuko keeps deflecting. Jet’s form is terrible and Zuko isn’t even breaking a sweat. 

“Look, I can tell that you’re going through something. Just let me go on my way and we’ll call it a day,” Zuko tries to deescalate the situation. 

“Why don’t you just firebend at me and finish this,” the boy shouts through his panting. 

This was getting annoying. “I’m not a firebender,” he says while finally doing a simple attack of his own. Jet immediately goes down. “Stay down,” Zuko says with one sword a few inches above Jet’s neck. 

Jet spits at him. Zuko is done with this shit. He turns his sword around and knocks Jet out with the butt of his sword. Then he looks up at the girl who's still standing a few feet away. 

“Do we have a problem?” Zuko said to her. She eyes him up and down with a scowl. 

“Get lost, gold eyes,” she spit at him also. If Zuko had just a little less self control, he’d have knocked her out too. But instead he walked to the other side of the clearing and into the forest before putting his swords away. Once he was a safe distance away he sat down against a tree. He banged his head against the tree a couple times. 

The Avatar had been here. He’d just missed him. He was so close the ice hadn’t even melted.  _ So close! _

… 

Zuko decides that going to Ponhai next is actually a good idea. He vaguely remembers that there is a Fire Nation stronghold there. If there is no word of the Avatar around town then at least he can break into the stronghold to try and find a direction from reports and sightings. 

In order to get to Ponhai, he needed to get to the other side of a massive canyon called the Great Divide. Zuko had never understood the hype around the Great Divide. It was just a bunch of rocks. There’s two ways to cross it, either you can climb down into the canyon and up the other side or you can use the bridge a few earthbenders built about fifty years ago. Zuko opted for the bridge since going down and up sounded time consuming and boring. 

Four days after the flood in Gaipan, Zuko arrived in Ponhai. He wasn’t sure if what he found was luck or the exact opposite. The entire port was buzzing with gossip. The Avatar was there. The Avatar was in the stronghold. The Avatar was a prisoner. The Avatar was  _ Zhao’s  _ prisoner. Zuko had never been a lucky guy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize that in the show Jet gave Zuko a pretty good fight but I'm also assuming that if he just barely escaped the ice he has a bit of frostbite and isn't on his best form. I also just really wanted him to get his ass kicked unceremoniously. Sue me.


	4. Blue Spirit Shenanigans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for all the love and support this story has gotten so far! I am so glad you all have enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. I'm not great at responding to comments but I promise I read every one and they make me smile even if I'm not responding. 
> 
> Also merry Christmas to those who celebrate it. I personally do not, but love a lot of people who do so will be spending the day with them.

The midday sun filters through the leaves as Zuko lays under a tree on the outskirts of Ponhai. He has absolutely no idea what he’s going to do. The Avatar is a prisoner in one of the most secure Fire Nation strongholds in the Earth Kingdom. Breaking in would be almost as stupid as trying to escape the Boiling Rock. It’s not like he can just sneak in, read a few papers, and leave with no one the wiser. He would actually need to take something, no someone, a very valuable someone, out with him. It’s a deathwish at the best. At the worst he’ll be recognized and sent back to his father. Then he’d probably wish for death. He sat straight up with one thought overtaking all the worries. ‘If I’m going to do this, I need a plan.’

He took a scroll out of his pack and wrote down what he knew for sure. 

_ The Avatar is in the stronghold.  _

_ Zhao is in the stronghold.  _

_ I hate Zhao.  _ Scratch that, not important at the moment. 

_ Where are the Avatar’s companions? _ Zuko hadn’t heard anything about them in the town. A small part of him hoped he could find them and work together to get the Avatar out. He discarded that idea though, he had no idea how to find them. 

_ Ways into the stronghold: Dress as a soldier? Hide in a cart? Tunnel?  _ _ Secret tunnel? _ _ Make a distraction? Bribe the guard? Befriend the guard? Get the guard drunk? Seduce the guard? _

Zuko put the scroll down. This was not helping. He needed a real plan. Then inspiration struck and his first thought was ‘this could actually work.’ 

… 

As the last rays of sun passed over the horizon, Zuko walked up to the gates of the stronghold with all of the fake confidence of his royal upbringing. The satchel on his side feels suddenly heavy. His grip tightens on the scroll in his hand. He approaches the guards and hopes that his practiced story is convincing enough. 

“What’s your business here, boy?” The first guard growled at him. 

“I have an important message for Commander Zhao from Admiral Chan of the Eastern Fleet,” Zuko replied, meeting the man’s eyes. 

“It’s Admiral Zhao now,” the guard eyed him up and down. Zuko mentally cursed. 

“Leave the kid alone, Nuzo. The Admiral was only promoted yesterday. If it’s a message from the Eastern Fleet he would’ve been travelling more than a day,” the other guard, a woman said. 

“Fine, let me see the message,” the first guard replied. 

“I have very strict instruction to deliver this straight to Admiral Zhao’s hand myself,” Zuko did his best not to sound nervous. 

“Fine, go on through. Zhao is just about to give a big speech in the courtyard,” the guard acquiesced. Zuko nodded his thanks and hurried past, amazed that it had actually worked. 

Once he was a few paces away he heard the female guard murmur. “Was it just me or did that kid look kind of like the Fire Lord,” and he couldn’t help but smirk. 

He quickly found his way into the main building and disappeared into the first deserted room he saw. There he changed out of his Earth Kingdom greens into a set of tight black clothes and pulled his mother’s blue spirit mask out of his satchel. He had to make sure no one else got the chance to get a good look at his face and make the same connection those guards had. He also decided to do his best to avoid bending. The longer his father thinks the Avatar doesn’t have a firebender the better. 

Zuko was suddenly very grateful for his short-lived rebellious phase. The experience of sneaking out of his apartment late at night felt very valuable. He stayed in the shadows of the deserted room until the noise outside died down almost completely. Everyone must be listening to the speech the guards had mentioned. Zuko took this opportunity to leave his hiding spot and follow the shadows around the stronghold. He came upon a door with four guards in full armour in front of it. That must be where they’re keeping the Avatar. 

The hallway is dark and he can use that to his advantage. Zuko stays close to the wall and blends into the shadows until he is only a few paces behind the guards. He pounces, using the element of surprise to knock out the first guard before he can even call up a flame. The second guard shoots out a jet of fire that Zuko has to drop to the floor to dodge. When the flame has dispersed he springs back to his feet and kicks the other man in the stomach. Once he’s doubled over, Zuko brings a knee to his head and the man goes down with a sickening thud. 

The next guard comes at him with a sword, a non-bender. Zuko pulls his own swords and parries that man’s attack. They exchange attacks and parries for a few minutes before Zuko sees an opening. The man leans left, leaving his right side open. If Zuko were a more aggressive man he could easily end this man right now. But instead he slices at the man’s leg. He wails and falls to his knees. Zuko brings the butt of his sword down and three of the four guards are unconscious. 

The last guard looks at Zuko like a deer caught in his headlights then lifts their hands over their head. “Don’t hurt me! I don’t like the idea of keeping a kid like this anyway. Just take him,” a woman’s voice says from behind the helmet’s face mask. Zuko nods at her and she runs away. 

Zuko grabs the nearest guard’s keys from his belt and opens the door they’d been guarding. Inside is a skinny kid suspended from the ceiling by chains on his wrists and ankles. Zuko is again disgusted by the barbary that his family is capable of ordering. 

“Who are you? What’s going on? Are you here to rescue me?” The kid says. 

“Yes,” Zuko replies while cutting the chains to release him.

“Great! What’s the plan? How do we get out now?” He says with a bit too much enthusiasm. 

Zuko rubs a hand against the back of his neck. He’d been much more worried about how to get in then how to get out. “Well, I-I have a plan.”

“How much of a plan?” The Avatar sounds skeptical and Zuko is kicking himself.

“I have ... 12% of a plan,” Zuko needs to be honest with the kid. 

“That’s not a plan! That’s barely a pla!” The kid is incredulous. 

“It’s better than nothing!” Zuko gets defensive. People always criticize his planning skills. “Just follow my lead. It’ll be okay.” 

“I need to get out of here. My friends are sick. I need to bring them frogs to suck on,” he looks desperate and tries to grab some of the frogs that have begun hopping around them. So that’s where the Avatar’s companions are, but what do frogs have to do with it? A question for once they’re out. 

Zuko grabs the Avatar by the collar, turns on his heels and starts running out the door with the Avatar just behind him. They pass the still unconscious guards and Zuko says a silent prayer to Agni that he didn’t do any more damage than he had to. He is trying to retrace his steps out of the main building. Fortunately most people are still watching Zhao’s speech and that female guard hadn’t raised any alarm yet. That small bit of luck ran out once they exited the building. The two boys make it to the rope hanging from the innermost wall easily enough. But then they hear a loud voice scream “There, on the wall!”

Zuko is running out of profanities for his inner monologue. Next thing he knows he’s falling, but the Avatar manages to airbend them a soft landing, and Zuko mutters a thank you before righting himself. The gates are closing; they have to be faster. 

“Stay close to me!” Aang, his name is Aang. Zuko had been trying to remember that all day. 

Zuko followed him as he made a break for the gate. They were almost there when a few guards started gaining on them. They were too close; Zuko had to turn around and engage with them. He pulled out his dao swords and began fending off attacks from every direction, working entirely off of instinct. He hears the gate close behind him and has no idea where the Avatar is. He’s surrounded. 

Then all the men are suddenly blown back as if by a massive wind. Zuko stares in shock for a second before he starts flying through the air, landing with a thunk on top of a wall. Before he can think, he is surrounded again. But then Aang is there using his stick as a propeller to fly. He wraps his legs around Zuko’s chest, and at this point, Zuko is struggling to keep up with what’s going on. He’s flying in a weirdly intimate position with a fourteen year old while smacking spears out of the air on pure instinct. No one is going to believe this story when he gets home. 

They crash onto the top of the next wall, and Aang drops his flying stick. They are instantly surrounded again. Someone with a sword goes at the Avatar so Zuko parries the attack and pushes the guard off the wall. The fall isn’t that high, right? Then Aang uses another gust of wind to knock everyone else off the wall. Two ladders appear on the wall next to them and Zuko starts trying to fight off the first people to surface. 

There is the now familiar sound of airbending right behind him. Zuko looks down to see no one on the ladders anymore. Aang picks up one of the ladders and pushes it into his hands. 

“Take this. Jump on my back,” the Avatar says and Zuko doesn’t know what else to do but comply, finding himself in yet another intimate position with this fourteen year old. 

Aang starts using the ladders as stilts. If this was an adventure scroll and not Zuko’s real life, he would have thought this was a very unrealistic story. As they are on their last stilt, someone lights it on fire. Zuko wonders why no one did that sooner; this was the Fire Nation army after all. Aang and Zuko fall, just barely catching the edge of the last wall. Neither has a good grip though, and they tumble to the ground. 

Zuko gets to his feet with his swords drawn but Aang gets in front of him and airbends the oncoming fire away. Suki was right; this kid is one hell of an airbender. 

Zhao is shouting from behind his soldiers. “Hold your fire! The Avatar must be captured alive.”

That gives Zuko an idea. He whispers a small apology to the kid in front of him, and then crosses his dao swords in front of his throat. In his peripheral vision, he can see the confused look in the Avatar’s eyes. Zhao visibly grits his teeth and calls for the gates to be opened. Zuko slowly backs out, never moving his blades from Aang’s throat. Once they are a few paces outside of the gate, Zuko takes a shuddering breath. 

“Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to scare you. Thanks for playing along. Once we’re out of sight I’ll let you go,” Zuko whispered, wanting to reassure the kid that he wasn’t in danger. 

Aang swallowed the lump in his throat. “That’s okay. It was a good idea. Thanks for getting me out of there.”

They continued backing away in silence. There was a faint whistle in the air and then everything went black for Zuko. 

… 

Zuko woke up to the first light of the sunrise filtering through the leaves of a tree overhead. His head was pounding, and his neck felt stiff. As he attempts to prop himself onto an elbow and look around, he notices his mask is off and on the ground a few feet away. The Avatar is sitting above him on a fallen tree trunk. 

“Who are you and why did you just break me out?” Aang said, his eyes were filled with hope and fear. Zuko had never seen the two emotions in such harmony. 

“Hi, my name’s Zuko. This is going to sound weird,” Zuko took a deep breath and tried to steel himself for this story. “I’m part of a secret organization that works to bring balance to the world. When you returned they sent me to find you, so I can protect you and teach you to firebend.”

“That’s cool! Why did you think it sounded weird? You’re like a secret agent,” Aang looked excited, and Zuko decided that it was best to get it all out there. 

“The weird part is who I am specifically, actually,” Zuko began. “I’m the Fire Lord’s eldest son,” Aang’s face falls and he tries to create more distance between them. Zuko picks up the pace in order to say everything he needs to. “I haven’t seen my father in six years. Not since he tried to kill me. The secret organization I mentioned helped me escape my father and raised me in secret in Ba Sing Se. The guy tried to kill me twice before my thirteenth birthday, and then told the whole world I was dead instead of looking for me when I went missing. He is a warlord and destroys everything in his path. I want to help you defeat him and bring balance to the world.” 

Aang looks at him skeptically but stops backing away. “Really? Even though he’s your dad?” 

“Trust me; he’s not winning any father of the year awards. I don’t think I’d be able to kill him myself, but I’m more than willing to help you train and get the opportunity to face him yourself,” Zuko has decided that full transparency is his best bet here. 

“Okay,” Aang says, standing with an odd look on his face. “Come with me. My friends are sick and we need to get these frogs to them as soon as possible.”

Zuko still did not understand the frogs, but he decided not to question it just yet. Zuko realizes that they’re not far from where he stashed his pack and asks Aang if he can grab it. Once he does he follows as Aang cuts a path through the forest. 

… 

Zuko’s head was swimming by the time they got to the mouth of the cave where the Avatar had left his friends. There he found two prone figures wrapped in Water Tribe sleeping furs, cuddled up to a fluffy creature and mumbling nonsense. Aang shoved a frozen frog in each of their mouths and Zuko wondered how hard he hit his head to be seeing things like that. 

“Hey Aang, my head’s really hurting. I might just sit down for a few minutes if that’s okay,” Zuko said, sinking down against the cave wall. 

“You got hit in the head pretty hard. You probably just need to sleep it off,” he said with a reassuring smile. The kid’s chipper attitude had quickly returned once he’d decided Zuko was probably okay and he’d happily babbled the whole way to the cave. 

Zuko was asleep in seconds. 

He was rudely awakened an unknown amount of time later by a woman’s voice shouting. “Aang! You can’t let someone with a concussion fall asleep!”

Suddenly there is a hand on his shoulder shaking him gently. He slowly opens his eyes to see the bluest eyes he’s ever seen staring back at him. The Water Tribe girl. A few feet behind her is a boy with the same eyes. 

He understands what everyone was talking about now. They’re both so pretty. His head is still swimming. All he can manage to say is a mumbled “what do they feed you in the water tribes?” 

He hears a confused response of ‘sea prunes’ over the ringing in his ears before the world goes black again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zuko is finally with the gaang! Things will stay close-ish to canon with some very notable differences until we hit the north pole. Shit's going down at the north pole, just you wait. I can't wait!


	5. Fortune's Favor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Years!
> 
> I was informed by my beta/best friend and multiple lovely comments that my instinctive writing of Zuko is coming off as extremely chaotic bi. So fuck it, I'm leaning in. Thank you for the feedback, I love you and your comments so much! 
> 
> Also I am aware this chapter feels kind of fillery. So will the next one. I need some relationship building time. But then the action and plot will pick up again and it'll be epic. In the words of beta/best friend "what this chapter lacks in plot, you make up for in chaos and drama."

Zuko woke up to the sensation of wind in his hair which was strange because the last thing he remembered was being in a cave. Cave’s weren’t usually this windy. He cracked an eye and saw nothing but blue sky above him. This wasn’t right. He shot up and took in his surroundings. Were those clouds beneath him?

“Woah there, not so fast,” a deep male voice rumbled beside him as a hand landed on his shoulder. “You’ve been out cold for a couple of hours. Take it slow.” 

“How did I get here?” Zuko was pretty sure this was a hallucination. What appeared to be a flying monkey with huge ears jumped into his lap and he was sure this was a hallucination.

“Aang airbent you onto Appa. I didn’t think it was safe to hang around that cave since everyone would be looking for Aang, and he insisted that we had to take you with us,” the rather cute boy replied. 

“What’s an Appa?” Zuko was getting dizzy, the ringing in his ears was beginning again. 

There was laughter coming from multiple directions and it was making his head spin worse. “He’s my flying bison,” the Avatar said from somewhere off to the side. The big fluffy creature from the cave has a name and can fly. Good to know. Flying makes how fast they seemed to be moving make more sense. 

“Cool,” was all Zuko could manage to say through the dizziness. The hand on his shoulder helped him lean against the edge of the saddle. It took everything in his power not to throw up. When Zuko looked, the hand was attached to the Water Tribe boy, Sokka, who was eyeing him suspiciously. 

“So you’re really the prince of the Fire Nation?” Sokka asked. 

“I haven’t really been a prince in like six years,” Zuko replied. “I’m pretty sure I lost the title when my father told the world I was dead.” 

“Does he know you’re alive?” The other boy asked. Zuko knew they’d have questions for him but he was hoping they could wait until his head cleared. 

“Yes, no, I don’t know. The people who helped me escape from the palace told me that my disappearance was made to look like a kidnapping. But my father never bothered to look for me and just declared me dead instead.” He was too dizzy to try and hide anything. Maybe that’s why Sokka chose now to ask all the questions. 

“Why do you want to help us? It seems like you were doing just fine before. Why risk revealing your identity and getting mixed up in all of this?”

“It’s the right thing to do. I was never just going to let the Fire Lord get away with it all. If the Avatar hadn’t returned, I probably would have challenged him for the throne once I was old enough to be a real threat. The war is unjust, and it hurts people in every nation, and he’s the kind of asshole who doesn’t give his own son a funeral. But the Avatar is the best chance at ending this war so I’m going to help him,” Zuko said as confidently as he could. “Plus King Bumi convinced my uncle that I was the best person for this job.”

“You know King Bumi?” Aang called from his position on the fluffy creature’s head. 

“Yeah, he’s part of the group that rescued me from the palace and sent me to help you.”

“Bumi’s in the secret organization!?! That’s so cool! I wanna hear all about this group,” Aang exclaimed. 

“Not right now, Aang. I’m in the middle of my interrogation,” Sokka said, waving a hand at the airbender. He turned back to Zuko. “Why should we trust you?”

“Well, I just risked my life to break Aang out of jail,” the world was still spinning and the edges of his vision were going dark. “Also, I’m so dizzy right now I don’t think I could lie if I wanted to.”

“You’re dizzy?” A female voice from the other side of the saddle said. Zuko hadn’t even noticed Katara sitting there. Zuko nodded, but the movement made the pain worse and he grimaced. The Water Tribe woman moved towards him. Without asking she started touching his face, peeling his eyes open and looking into them. “You definitely have a concussion. A pretty bad one too. You’ll probably be dizzy and faint for a few days. There’s not much I can do for it but suggest you don’t strain yourself for a while. Maybe the next town we stop in will have some herbs that can help or something.”

“Thanks,” he said as the awkward flush crept up his face. He didn’t know how to respond to that or her proximity. 

“Where have you been for the last six years?” Sokka asked. 

“Living above a tea shop in Ba Sing Se with a woman from the secret organization,” Zuko replied, keeping his aunt’s royal blood a secret as promised. “Most people say I’m one of the best bakers in the middle ring.”

Sokka giggled, looked satisfied and sat back against the saddle. He offered Zuko a piece of jerky and went about sharpening a boomerang. Katara had a concerned look on her face and moved further away from him. 

“Are you a firebender?” She asked in a quiet voice. Zuko thought her tone sounded scared but couldn’t figure out why. 

“Yeah,” he replied. Part of him wanted to make a joke to break the tension she’d just created but somehow he knew that was the wrong move. Her brother on the other hand did not seem to be watching her as closely.

“How else could he teach Aang firebending,” Sokka said with a snort, not even looking up. 

Katara looked him up and down with her lips pressed in a tight line but didn’t say anything more. 

… 

That night, they made camp in a clearing within a forest. Zuko offered to build the campfire but even that bit of exertion had his head spinning. When Zuko stumbled, Aang insisted he sit down. He didn’t like not helping while everyone else set up camp, but everytime he made a move Aang seemed to appear. The kid was light on his feet; that was for sure. When Katara started making dinner, Zuko asked if he could help. She gave him that same tight-lipped look but handed him some vegetables and asked him to chop them. They worked in silence. 

Everyone shared a meal of rice and stir fried vegetables. There wasn’t as much spice as Zuko would generally have liked, but he didn’t say anything. He smirked to himself. They’d all be in for a surprise when it was his turn to make dinner. Sokka, having gotten his questions off his chest, was surprisingly friendly to the newcomer. If Zuko had been able to string two thoughts together without almost passing out, he would have enjoyed joking around with the other man. Aang seemed to have that much energy all the time. Zuko silently wondered how long it would take for that to get annoying. Katara sat there silently, occasionally looking at Zuko with the same unreadable expression from before. He wondered if she was always this quiet but did not have the mental energy to try and decipher her expression. Overall, he thought it was a successful first night with the group. 

That is, until everyone was getting ready to go to sleep. Sokka had kindly helped Zuko set up his tent, since he was having trouble with his motor skills. He really hoped his concussion wouldn’t last too long. As Zuko was laying down in his bedroll and preparing to finally give into the haze of his brain, his tent flap opened again. He got up but fell back from lightheadedness before figuring out who it was. 

“I don’t trust firebenders,” it was Katara’s voice, but at this moment Zuko didn’t like the sound of it. She sounded like she was talking more to herself than to Zuko. “The Fire Lord is a terrible person, and you’re his son. Spreading war and violence and hatred is probably in your blood.”

Zuko sighed. He was too dizzy for this. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he muttered without getting up. 

“I don’t!” She was almost shouting, and Zuko realized he’d said the wrong thing. “How dare you! You have no idea what this war has put me through. Me personally,” she paused and Zuko hoped she was done. He was seconds away from losing his temper. “The Fire Nation took my mother away.”

Zuko's breath caught as she said that. He propped himself on his elbows and looked at her. She was looking down and clutching at her neck. “I’m sorry,” he said, using a much gentler tone than before. “At least that’s something we have in common.” 

She looked at him now; her eyes shining with surprise and unshed tears. They stayed like that just staring at each other for a few moments before she got up and left without another word. Zuko laid back down; his head swimming worse than before but he didn’t think it was only from the concussion anymore. 

… 

The next couple of days went by in a fuzzy blur for Zuko. They flew all day and camped at night. He was incredibly grateful to have other people around while his head continued spinning. He wasn’t sure he’d have been able to take care of himself on his own. Katara continued being extremely quiet around him; something that Zuko gleaned from the other two was not her normal behavior. He occasionally caught her staring at him. But she always looked away once he noticed. 

When he woke up on the fourth morning he was with the avatar and the water tribe siblings, it felt like the fog had begun to lift from his mind. There was still pain, but he could stand without stumbling and string together more than one coherent thought in a row. He relayed this information to Sokka as soon as he left his tent. The other boy slapped him on the shoulder and made a joke about Zuko carrying his own weight now. Or at least Zuko hoped it was a joke and he hadn’t been too much of a burden these last couple days. 

“You still shouldn’t exert yourself.” He turned around to see Katara looking at him with the same tight-lipped expression. 

“Thanks, I’ll be sure to take it easy,” he replied, rubbing the back of his neck. He wasn’t sure where he stood with the waterbender, and her cold stare was making him feel awkward and self conscious. 

“Definitely no firebending in your condition,” she declared, turning away from him and going to continue breaking down their camp. Zuko deeply wished he was back in Ba Sing Se right now. In the past when he’d been confused by girls, he could ask Lana or his friends what to do. Now he was on his own. 

As they started flying for the day, Zuko sat in the back of the saddle and took a scroll and some ink out of his pack. He started a letter to Lana to tell her everything that had happened recently. With all the chaos since Gaipan, he hadn’t managed to get a letter out. Zuko significantly downplayed the severity of his head injury and left out the cookie he’d eaten with the nomads. 

“Whatcha got there?” Sokka asked, sidling up next to him. 

“A letter,” he replied. 

“To who? A girlfriend?” Sokka attempted to peer over his shoulder and Zuko instinctively shielded the letter. 

He snorted. “No. No girlfriend. It’s to my guardian; she likes it when I reassure her that I’m eating enough.” He huffed a small laugh. Zuko was careful not to refer to Lana as his aunt. Her royal identity was still a tightly held secret. He deflected. “I hear you’ve had a bit more luck with girls though. Suki told me to give you a kiss from her,” Zuko said, jabbing the other boy in the ribs; although he wondered whether Sokka was only interested in a kiss from Suki and not from other less female individuals. 

Sokka blushed all the way down his neck which made Zuko laugh harder. “You know Suki?”

“I met her while I was looking for you guys. She’s a catch, good for you.”

“Yeah,she’s pretty great,” Sokka said with a dreamy look in his eyes, confirming that regardless of Zuko’s musings on Sokka’s preferences, he was interested in at least one woman.

“How long were you on Kyoshi Island?” Aang asked from the front. 

“Just one night. I had dinner with Suki, and she helped me find a boat to Omashu in the morning.”

“Why would she tell you where we were going?” Katara asked with none of the enthusiasm the boys seemed to display at hearing about his journey. 

“The Oyaji in her village is in the same organization as I am and vouched for me,” She just continued staring at him, giving away nothing. 

“Where else did you go?” Aang asked, clearly enjoying the story. 

“Well, I stopped in Omashu and hung out with Bumi. Then I stopped in this mining town that had just had a revolution. I met this boy named Haru there.” He noticed a slight blush on Katara’s cheeks and smirked at that. “He said to say hi to Katara for him.” Sokka began to cackle at that. “Then I went to a village that was having a huge party to celebrate that you’d rid their village of some spirit. A nice man and his family took me in for a night there, and I fixed their fence. I met some travelling nomads and got a little, um. distracted for a day or two hanging out with them. I was in a town when a mysterious boy in blue told everyone to evacuate.” He eyed Sokka for a moment and saw only pride, “and the dam blew up and flooded the whole place but everyone was okay. I fought some kid named Jet who attacked me even though he clearly had some frostbite.” Katara’s blush got worse. “Then I showed up in Ponhai and found out Aang was in jail, and now I’m here.”

“Wow, it sounds like you were pretty close behind us the entire time,” Sokka said. “We should really be more aware if we’re that easy to track. At least you’re not some evil Fire Nation guy trying to capture Aang for honor or something.” Everyone laughed at that. 

That night once they’d made camp, Katara began making dinner. Zuko realized that she made dinner every night and silently judged the other two boys for not stepping up. He asked if he could help again and set to his usual task of chopping. At the end of the meal she collected the dishes and began walking towards the stream near their campsite to wash them. Zuko stopped her and offered to do the dishes himself, but she insisted he didn’t know how. Instead, he settled for just carrying the load to the water and helping as she saw fit. 

“Why are you helping me?” She asked once they were settled by the stream. 

“You seem to do most of the work around camp, and that’s not fair,” he replied, not looking up from the dish in his hand. He doesn’t know where he stands with her and has been silent thus far. 

“Well, thanks I guess,” she has ceased working and is just staring at him now. “Sokka and Aang are a little helpless when it comes to ‘domestic’ stuff.”

Zuko couldn’t help but laugh. “I can tell. I don’t mind helping though. I worked as a waiter and baker for the last few years, I am no stranger to cooking and cleaning.” 

Now Katara was giggling a little too. “Some help would be nice.” She took a long hesitant breath. “I should probably apologize.”

“For what?” Zuko wasn’t sure if she meant accosting him the other night or refusing to talk to him in the following days. 

“I shouldn’t have said those things the other night. You were just a surprise, and I didn’t know how to handle it. I should have figured out my own feelings before ambusing you, especially with your head injury.”

“It’s okay,” Zuko said, finally looking at her. “You guys are the first people I’ve told my real name to in a really long time. That all just made me remember why everyone else I know thinks my name is Lee and I was born in Yu Dao.”

“I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad for who you are. You can’t control that. You haven’t given me any reason not to trust you. I’m doing my best to just accept that.” Zuko smiled at her. He could tell she was trying. 

“It’s really okay. I promise,” he said as reassuringly as he could. “I’m sorry about your mom.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about yours too.” She looked back towards the bowl in her hands and they finished the dishes in a much more comfortable silence. 

… 

The next morning Zuko emerged from his tent at sunrise to meditate. He hadn’t centered his chi since he hit his head, and it felt good. Once the sun was high in the sky, Sokka emerged from his tent and began bathing in the small stream nearby. Zuko went to sit with him and Aang came along soon after fiddling with some string in his hands. 

“Are you making something?” Zuko asked him. 

“I’m making a necklace for Katara,” he replied. “She had one and was really sad when she lost it, so I thought I’d make her a new one.” 

“That’s really nice of you,” Zuko said, then he remembered what was in his pack. He hurried back to the camp and rummaged through the bag for a moment. When he returned to the stream, Katara had joined the group. 

“Hey Katara,” he said as he approached her. “I think I have something of yours. I found it on the prison rig you liberated when I was looking for you guys,” he said, handing her the blue ribbon with the white carving. 

She looked at it like it was about to disappear. “My necklace,” she said in almost a whisper as she finally took it from his hand. 

“I grabbed it assuming it was yours. Who else would have a Water Tribe betrothal necklace. I bet your fiance would have been sad to hear you lost it.” The awestruck look in her eyes was replaced with confusion. 

“Betrothal necklace? I don’t have a fiance,” a deep red blush began to spread across her cheeks. 

“Oh,” he mentally kicked himself. “I’m sorry. My guardian taught me a lot about other cultures. I could’ve sworn that my book on the Northern Water Tribe had a picture with a bunch of necklaces that looked like that as a traditional betrothal symbol.” 

“We’re from the Southern Water Tribe. We don’t have any customs like that. This necklace was my grandmother’s. She gave it to my mother who gave it to me. It’s one of the last things I have from her,” Katara said looking at the necklace with love again. “Thank you so much for giving it back to me.”

“Wait!” Sokka shouted from his position by the stream. “You thought my little sister was engaged this entire time.”

Zuko felt the blush creep up his face now. “Leave him alone Sokka; if this is a tradition in our sister tribe then it’s a fair assumption,” Katara called back to her brother. Then she turned back to Zuko and offered the necklace back to him. “Will you help me put it on?” Zuko fastened the ribbon at the back of her neck. “How do I look?” She asked with one hand feeling the carving at her throat. 

“Great,” he replied with a smile before returning to his seat beside Aang. The airbender had been watching the encounter silently. The look on his face had fallen from its usual bright smile. 

“Has anyone seen my fishing line? There’s a huge fish in here and I swear it’s taunting me,” Sokka called from the stream. 

“It’s right here,” Aang called back, quickly unravelling the half formed piece of jewelry in his hands. 

… 

The group decided to walk towards a nearby town to replenish some supplies. On their journey they found a man being attacked by a platypus-bear. Once they’d saved him, he thanked them by giving them a gift from the town fortune teller. The umbrella came in very handy when it began to rain a few moments later. Zuko couldn’t help but smile at how excited the idea of a fortune teller made Aang and Katara. He silently agreed with Sokka that it was a load of crap, but didn’t want to squash the childlike wonder of his companions. 

A few hours later, they all found themselves sitting in the waiting area for Aunt Wu’s fortune telling. Zuko was absent mindedly fiddling with the white lotus tile that is always in his sleeve while listening to Aunt Wu’s assistant mercilessly hit on Aang. The awkwardness of the encounter brought a smirk to his face and once the girl had walked away he elbowed the younger boy and wiggled his eyebrows a bit. Aang turned a satisfying shade of bright red. 

After a short wait an older woman saunters into the room. “Welcome young travelers, now who is next?” She looks at the small group and her eyes narrow on Zuko’s hands. “You,” she points to him. “Come along now; you’re first.” 

Zuko stands and follows her from the room. Once they are in her fortune telling room she drops the big, artificial smile on her face. “Can I interest you in a game of Pai Sho?” she asks him. Zuko’s jaw drops. As they ‘play’ Pai Sho, Aunt Wu knows all the correct codes and Zuko has a hard time lifting his jaw off the floor. 

“What is a member of the Order doing all the way out here?” He asked once the ritual was finished. 

“This is a stop over station for travelling Order members and a message hub. Most of the Order’s information flows through here. You’ll never believe what people will willingly tell a fortune teller. And a fortune teller is a great cover for knowing more than you are meant to,” she replied, sitting back in her chair with a self satisfied expression. 

“That’s a brilliant cover,” he was genuinely impressed with the woman. He knew that the Order had a handful of information centers around the world. The people who ran them usually loved gossip and making trouble. 

“This town has bought it, hook, line, and sinker,” she laughs to herself. “So you must be the firebender Grand Master Iroh assigned to teach the Avatar.”

“I am.”

“Is there anything I can do for you?” 

“Not particularly. We are just passing through town on our way to the North Pole.”

“Well anything you need, it’s yours. Just let me know,” she took on a devilish look. “Also don’t tell your friends about me.”

“Why not?” He was both afraid and curious. 

“Well I still want to give them fortunes. The girl is very pretty, maybe I could steer her in your direction. I could tell her there’s fire and passion in her future. Or that she is to marry a powerful bender. You know us old people love playing matchmaker.” Zuko could not help but laugh. 

“Okay, I’ll let you have your fun. But don’t tell them anything too outrageous,” he replies. “Also Sokka, the Water Tribe man, already doesn’t believe in any of this so probably don’t bother with him.”

They talked for a bit longer. Aunt Wu agreed to send Zuko’s letter along to Lana through official channels which made him feel immensely better. Then she escorted him back to the waiting area. Zuko had to repress a laugh when Aunt Wu immediately told Sokka that his future is full of self inflicted pain and suffering. The other two went one at a time for their readings. Katara came back looking exceedingly happy and Zuko had to wonder what kind of nonsense Aunt Wu filled her head with. 

The rest of the day they spend around the town. Aunt Wu does a reading of the clouds that again has Zuko suppressing giggles. Katara disappears back into the fortune teller midday and Zuko worries about the nonsense Aunt Wu is filling her with. Zuko laughs in amusement as he stands with Sokka as he yells at anyone who will listen that the fortune telling is bull.

“Sokka, Zuko, you guys know some stuff about ladies, right?” Aang asks as he approaches them. 

“Some stuff? You’ve come to the right place. What can I do for you?” Sokka replies. Zuko rolls his eyes but gestures for Aang to ask his question. 

Sokka tells the poor boy to be  _ less  _ nice. Zuko is sure at this moment that Suki deserves better and that Sokka was definitely straight. 

“That is terrible advice Sokka,” Zuko finally says once the other boy is done with his little speech. 

“What are you talking about? That’s great advice,” Sokka pouts in mock offense. 

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” he says, patting Sokka on the cheek. “Just tell her how you feel. If she feels the same way you don’t need to play any of these games. If she doesn’t, then you can move on,” Zuko claps his hands together in emphasis. 

“That is very contradictory and confusing advice. Thank guys, I guess,” Aang says with a shrug and walks away. Zuko goes back to his previous passtime of watching Sokka harass helpless passersby. He pulls some fireflakes from his pack to enjoy the show. 

… 

The next morning the group is eating breakfast together when he sees Katara pull out a fruit with clear revulsion. “I hate papaya,” she says as she reaches for a knife. Zuko looks down at the mango in his own hand and makes a quick decision. He grabs the papaya out of Katara’s hand and replaces it with his mango. She looks up at him in surprise and then smiles widely. “Thanks,” he shrugs in response and goes about cutting up his new fruit. He doesn’t notice that her gaze stays on him a little longer than is necessary. 

Zuko again plans to spend his day watching Sokka flail while trying to disprove fortune telling. He finds it oddly endearing so he doesn’t tell Sokka the truth about Aunt Wu. This time it requires a hike to the top of the volcano. Aang tags along in search of some rare flower for the girl he likes. Zuko silently curses as Aang floats with ease from rock to rock while he and Sokka struggle but enjoys spending some time with the two other boys. At the top of the volcano, they are greeted with the knowledge that this fortune telling stuff is not all fun and games. 

No one in the town will believe them that the volcano is about to explode. The townspeople’s heads are so far in the sand that one man doesn’t know that science can explain why it rains. Zuko runs into Aunt Wu’s shop to tell her what they’d found. She blanches and immediately informs the town that the clouds have changed. Zuko feels her explanation is a bit weak, but the people buy it. The townsfolk immediately react with the earthbenders creating defences and the non-benders leading an evacuation effort. Unfortunately, the eruption is still coming faster than they can handle. When the lava threatens to overflow the rudimentary dams the town’s earthbenders were able to build, Zuko and Aang work in tandem, Aang creating walls of wind to stop the flow and Zuko siphoning heat from the lava to help it solidify while using walls of flames to divert its path. He’d only ever read about this technique, since he’d never been in an active volcano eruption, and found that it was more intuitive than expected. The technique was invented by Avatar Roku mere moments before he died. By the time the eruption is over, the town only takes minimal damage. Somewhere behind him, the Water Tribe siblings are safely hidden from the lava. 

“Man, I can’t believe we haven’t seen Zuko bend before. That guy is one powerful bender,” Sokka says, clearly impressed.

“Wait, what did you just say?” Katara asks in shock.

“Nothing,” he replies with an air of nonchalance. “Just that Zuko is clearly a powerful bender.”

“I suppose he is,” she can’t help but hide the slight wonder in her voice. 

[My Tumblr](https://wicked-stitch.tumblr.com/)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a tumblr! I don't know exactly what I'm going to do with it but feel free to use it to ask me questions and if it seems like people would like it I can add chapter notes or all the world building things I've made up for this AU. I am wicked-stitch so find me!


	6. Old Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My beta was really busy this week and didn't get around to editing this so if there are any glaring mistakes hit me up and there may be some very slight edits soon if she gets around to this chapter.
> 
> Also thank you again for all the nice comments and kudos! They really help me keep going when I hit a wall <3

The next few days of travelling went by with no incidents. The group flew through the day and camped in the evenings. Zuko helped Katara make dinner each night and often snuck something spicy in when she wasn’t looking. Then the two of them would do the dishes and talk. Sokka would tell insane stories around the fire to make everyone laugh before bed and if it was warm enough the whole group would sleep in a circle under the stars. Zuko quickly felt like a part of the group. 

The first thing of note to happen in the journey was one evening when Aang discovered a Water Tribe weapon near their campsite. Sokka declared the entire area had been the site of a Water Tribe ambush and the group came upon an empty Water Tribe boat. One look at Sokka said that something was wrong with him. Zuko followed him to the other side of the vessel, away from the others before addressing him quietly. 

“What’s wrong?” He whispered. 

“Nothing, I’m fine,” Sokka was clearly not fine. 

“Yeah, and I’m a waterbender,” Zuko was hoping a bit of sarcastic humor would help. “Really, what’s wrong?”

“It’s just-” Sokka took a shuddering breath, “-when they left, the warriors, my dad, I begged them to take me with them. I wanted to be a man so badly. But they left me behind. I know it’s because I was just a kid but it still hurt. And I’m a man now, but I never got to do any of the traditional man things. This is the same kind of boat I would have gone ice dodging in if there’d been anyone to take me. I’m almost eighteen and I’m still not a man in the eyes of my tribe.” 

Zuko could understand that. Having important rituals of your people taken away unexpectedly through no fault of your own was something he had experience with. He put a hand on the other boy's shoulder. Sokka took that as an invitation and wrapped his arms around Zuko for a full hug. 

“Don’t tell the others I said any of that. Katara will just worry and all these feelings aren’t manly,” Sokka said. 

Zuko laughed a little and gave his friend a little squeeze. “Of course, I wouldn't want your man card taken away.”

“Thanks,” Sokka laughed and let go of the embrace. “Bro hugs are super manly anyway so nothing to be embarrassed about,” they both laughed for a few seconds. Zuko promised to have a conversation with him about toxic masculinity another time. Sokka looked immensely better having gotten that off of his chest. 

A moment later, a sound came from the nearby treeline. Zuko drew his swords out of caution. 

“Who’s there?” Sokka called. A man in Water Tribe blues with white bandages covering half his torso emerged onto the beach. 

“Sokka?” The man called. 

Sokka looked the man up and down. A wide smile broke across his face. “Bato!” followed by an equally enthusiastic “Bato!” from Katara. In the blink of an eye both Water Tribe siblings have their arms wrapped around the new man and Aang is standing a foot away awkwardly trying to interject. Zuko grabs the kid by the collar and pulls him back.

“Let them have this,” he whispers to Aang. The boy slumps a little but doesn’t pull away. 

After a quick hello, Bato is leading the entire group inside of a nearby Abbey. The nuns kindly greet them and are more than thrilled to host the Avatar. Bato leads them to his room and both siblings are excited to see so many pieces of their home. Multiple times Zuko has to remind Aang to stand back and be quiet. They all sat down to dinner around a fire. After one bite of sea prunes Zuko understood where Katara got her cooking style from. They weren’t bad per say, but they were salty and squishy in a disconcerting way. Zuko flicks Aang when he tries to make a comment about the food and physically holds him down when he tries to go wander around the room. Bato is regaling them with stories about their home and Zuko is enjoying learning more about their lives and culture. It comes to light that Bato is waiting on a message from the siblings’ dad with a rendezvous point. He invites the kids to come along to see their father. At first Sokka beams at the idea of seeing their dad. Zuko is not quick enough to stop Aang from storming out, but no one but him seems to notice the departure. Sokka quickly comes to his senses and says that they have to continue on their mission. At that Zuko quietly makes his own departure to go find a clearly upset bridge to the spirit world. 

Zuko finds Aang near the beach, an ostrich-horse disappears into the distance and Aang is fuming, kicking at the sand. “I can’t believe they’d leave me,” he hears Aang mumbling to himself. 

“They’re not going to leave you,” Aang stops at the sound of Zuko’s voice, a bright red blush creeping onto his face at being caught. “If you’d stuck around another minute you’d have heard Sokka tell Bato they’d love to see their dad but we have a mission and have to keep going.”

“Really,” Aang could not hide the relief in his voice. 

“We’re all here for you now, kid. You don’t have to worry. None of us are just going to abandon you,” Zuko puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder and quickly realizes that he should stop doing that if he doesn’t want to end up in more hugs. The fourteen year old has a surprisingly strong grip around his rib cage. 

When they return to Bato’s room, Aang pulls a paper out of his shirt and hands it to Bato with a guilty look on his face. Bato is delighted to see that it's the map to the rendezvous point. 

“How about we all have breakfast tomorrow morning before we go our separate ways,” Bato offers. They all accept and head to bed. Zuko is stopped on his way out the door by a firm hand on his shoulder. The others are already gone. 

“What is the son of the Fire Lord actually doing hanging around my best friend’s kids?” Bato growled from behind him. Zuko turned around to face the man. 

“I’m travelling with them to help the Avatar. When he’s ready I’ll teach him to firebend,” Zuko told him but could tell that was not a satisfactory answer. 

“Why would you turn against your own family? You’re a prince,” Bato almost spat the last word at him. 

“I haven’t been a prince in a long time,” Zuko took a shallow breath as Bato stared intensely at him. Zuko met his gaze defiantly. “I ran away because my father wanted to kill me. I have a back full of scars to remind me just what being the Fire Lord’s son meant. It’s hard to be loyal to a man like that.”

Something in Bato’s eyes changed. “Your own father-” the older man started but cut himself off, unable to meet Zuko’s eyes. Zuko just nodded. “Sit down, let’s talk some more, man to man.” 

Zuko did as he was told and knelt on one of the animal pelts lining the floor. Bato had a few more questions for him about his motivations but seemed increasingly satisfied with the answers. After what could have been minutes or hours, Zuko felt comfortable in the older man’s presence and the two of them were simply talking. There was a natural kinship that Zuko had only ever felt before when he first met his aunt. After a while Zuko even found himself asking the older man to help him decipher Katara’s confusing behavior. Bato simply laughed and told a story about when Sokka’s dad, Hakoda, had first been courting his mom, Kya, that only confused Zuko further. 

“If you’re going to the North Pole you’re going to need some Water Tribe credibility,” Bato told him much later that night. 

Zuko snorted. “How am I supposed to get that?” 

“Become a member of the tribe,” Bato said matter of factly. 

“I don’t think that’s something you just become.”

“The easiest way would be to marry in,” Bato stated. Zuko just stared at him for a moment. 

“I’m not about to get married!” Zuko’s voice squeaked. 

Bato laughed heartily and bit his tongue on the subject. “Someone could symbolically adopt you.”

“What Water Tribesmen would want to adopt an ash maker?” Zuko asked cheekily. 

“Well the natural solution would be Hakoda since you’re travelling with his kids. But after seeing the way Katara looked at you I don’t think you should be her brother anytime soon,” the older man said with a wink and a nudge. Zuko had no idea what he was talking about but blushed and stuttered a bit regardless. “And you clearly are in need of a good father figure. So I’ll do it,” he stuttered for a moment. “As a formality.”

Zuko gaped for a moment longer than was appropriate. “I appreciate that, I really do. But I’m good. I don’t do great with fathers. Or parents in general.”

“What do you mean? Your mom sounds great,” Bato interjected. 

“I haven’t seen my mom since I was ten years old,” he stated, not meeting the other man’s eyes. 

“The woman you’ve been talking about?” 

“That’s Lana, she's not my mom. She’s…” Zuko trailed off not knowing what to call her. Bato took mercy on him. 

“I didn’t realize, sorry,” he said sheepishly. “But still. It would do you good to walk into the Northern Pole as part of the tribe so they don’t dump you in the arctic like they do with most firebenders. And honestly, I want to. You seem like a good kid,” he rubbed the back of his neck as if the next words pained him. “My son would be about your age now. He and my wife died from frost one winter when the stores were too low. I tried to go out to hunt but it was too late by the time I got back. He was only five.”

Zuko looked at the man with a newfound appreciation. He didn’t look at Zuko and just see a sad, fatherless boy to pity. He saw someone who could use a dad as much as he himself could use a son. Zuko couldn’t help but smile back at the older man. “Okay. But just be prepared. I don’t have a great track record with fathers. And I don’t think I’m comfortable with calling you dad or anything like that.”

Zuko felt himself being pulled into his third hug of the day. This one felt warmer somehow. “I promise I won’t hurt you, son,” Zuko almost cried at the words but held it together. “Tomorrow I’ll take you and Sokka ice dodging. You can both become real Water Tribe men,” the older man beamed. The two of them sat together talking until a few hours before dawn when Bato declared they both needed some rest. Zuko went to sleep smiling. 

The next morning they all loaded onto Bato’s boat to ice dodge. Zuko was assigned to steer as Sokka gave directions, Katara manned the sails, and Aang controlled the jib. There were one or two close calls but they made it through the trial in one piece. Bato was extremely impressed by the skill with which they worked together. They each received a mark of the Water Tribe. Sokka beamed as he received the mark of the wise, apparently the same as his father. Katara received the mark of the brave. Aang received the mark of the trusted and Zuko felt more of the tension from the day before leave the boy. 

When Bato got to Zuko he stopped for a second with a smile on his face. He used his thumb to paint a small design on Zuko’s forehead. “And for Zuko the mark of the honorable. The same mark I earned. Welcome to the tribe, son,” he clapped Zuko on the shoulder and then pulled him into a hug. 

Not long after that they bid Bato farewell. The Water Tribe siblings sent along notes for their father. Promises of seeing each other soon were made all around. Zuko knew that in war such promises couldn’t always be kept, but he still felt some level of reassurance at Bato’s words and his final warm hug. 

… 

“You and Bato stayed up really late last night,” Katara said conversationally as they made dinner. But Zuko could tell she was digging for something. 

“Yeah, he’s a great guy. Once he was convinced I wasn’t a spy or something he was really easy to talk to,” Zuko smiled at the memory of the night before. 

“That’s good. It was really nice of him to make you part of the tribe. It’ll be much easier that way once we’re up north. What did you guys talk about?” she was digging and he couldn’t tell for what. 

“A bit of everything. He gave me some solid life advice. I told him about my life. He told me a few stories. There was one good one about your dad when he was first trying to date your mom, actually.” The sudden look on her face told him that he said something wrong. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“It’s okay,” she said with a hand on her necklace. “I’m not upset. Just surprised. Mom’s death was still pretty fresh when they left. They didn’t use to tell many stories about her.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, putting down his knife and taking a step towards her. “If you ever need to talk about it, I’m here. After my mom disappeared no one talked about her. If I even mentioned her name I was punished. Not being able to talk about how you’re feeling can be the worst part.”

“Thanks,” she said, turning to him with unshed tears making her eyes sparkle. “Can you tell me the story?”

“Sure,” he said sitting back down. “I’m not a great story teller, but I’ll do my best. The way Bato said it, your mom had a crush on your dad for a long time, but your dad was oblivious. She kept giving him signals, making excuses to spend time with him, and even laughing at his jokes. Apparently your dad and Sokka have similar senses of humor,” that comment made her giggle which filled Zuko’s chest with warmth. “And then one day your dad went to Bato distraught. He just face planted into Bato’s furs. He liked your mom and could not figure out if she felt the same way. He said she was sending him too many mixed signals and that her behavior was confusing. Bato apparently laughed in your dad’s face and exclaimed that all the behavior he found so confusing meant that she liked him. He said the dumbstruck look on your dad’s face was priceless. A few days later your dad finally worked up the courage to ask your mom to dinner. Bato said her response was ‘took you long enough.’”

Katara smiled at the end of the story. “Sounds like my mom and dad,” she laughed. “What made him tell you that particular story?”

Zuko blushed slightly. “I don’t really know,” Zuko lied. “He just kind of brought it up after I told him about what we usually do at night around the camp,” a faint blush crept across Katara’s cheeks too but he couldn’t figure out why. 

… 

About a week later they are nearing some of the oldest and most integrated Fire Nation colonies. They are very far north. The group decides to stop in a small town on the outskirts of the colonies in order to reprovision. Sokka isn’t sure if they’ll get another chance before the final stretch to the North Pole. Zuko sends Agni a prayer that no one recognizes him in the colony since they’re this far away from the homeland. 

Aang points out the town bulletin board as they enter the main square and begins chattering about a fire day festival. Zuko remembers those festivals from when his mother would take him as a kid. They usually had all the fried food a child could want and a few firebending shows. For a moment he thinks going would actually be fun. Then Zuko facepalms. There staring back at him is a wanted poster for the Avatar right in between a wanted poster for his old firebending master and himself as the Blue Spirit. Sokka points this out. 

“But I have to learn firebending. And this is a chance to watch a master up close!” Aang whines. 

“I told you, you need to learn water and earth first. You can’t just jump to fire with no control,” Zuko drones, having had this argument with the kid about five times this week. Aang makes the same annoyed sighing noise he’s made every other time they’ve had this argument.

Aang looks at Katara with huge puppy eyes which she can’t resist. “What do we know about the festival?” She asked, looking at Zuko. 

“I used to go to the one in the capital as a kid,” he started. “Usually there was a lot of fried food and a few bending demonstrations. Nothing that would help us, all just showy tricks,” he says with a pointed look at Aang. Sokka perked up at the mention of fried food but still looked skeptical of the idea. “Oh and everyone wears masks.”

“Well then that’s perfect. We’ll get masks and then no one will be able to recognize us,” Aang exclaims. Katara nods and the older boys both moan in acquiescence. Zuko pulls his blue spirit mask out of his pack and the others buy masks at the entrance to the festival. There are enough other people with masks of the beloved theatre character that he didn’t need to worry about being recognized as the vigilante. A highlight of the night is watching Sokka try fire flakes. Zuko nearly doubled over laughing when the other boy started coughing and sputtering. Then calmly plucked the bag out of his hands and ate the remainder of the snack himself. Sokka stared at him in amazement and then made some comment about how they weren’t even  _ that _ spicy. Both boys ended up eating too much spicy meat and fried dough as if it was some sort of sadistic competition to see who would give up first. At one point Aang tried to volunteer for a demonstration and Zuko and Sokka together physically restrained the boy before he could attract any attention. 

Later in the afternoon, Zuko heard a song about his father and froze on the spot. Something about hearing every day people praise the man who had tormented so much of Zuko’s life felt like a kick to his gut. Katara noticed his reaction and put a reassuring hand on his arm. 

“Are you okay?” She asked in a soft voice as if he was a spooked animal. 

“Yeah,” he tried to sound reassuring. “I just hadn’t heard anyone praise the Fire Lord in a really long time. It just took me by surprise.” Katara could see the glistening in his eyes and knew it was time to take him away from so many reminders of his first home. She herded the others away saying it was time to call it a night even though the sun was still far above the horizon. She stayed right beside Zuko on the walk back to their camp in comforting silence. 

Zuko was still lost in his thoughts when they returned to the camp so he didn’t immediately notice the shadow leaning against Appa. 

“What, not even a hello for your old master?” He heard a familiar voice call to him. Zuko froze for a moment, then turned on his heels to see Jeong Jeong emerge from the shadows. From the corner of his eye he saw the other three take defensive positions. But Zuko immediately relaxed and approached the firebender. Jeong Jeong offered him a firm handshake and a pat on the shoulder. The Jeong Jeong equivalent of an extended embrace. “I have to say, I’m a little disappointed to see you here, Zuko.”

His face fell. “Why?” 

“I thought you had enough sense to say no to Bumi and your uncle’s half baked plan,” his words had no small amount of venom to them. “But no, the old men tell you to run off and chase the Avatar around the world and you just do it. If they told you to jump off a bridge would you? I thought I trained you to think for yourself.” The older man knocked on Zuko’s skull looking for signs of a brain. 

“I am thinking for myself,” Zuko said defensively, swatting his hand away. “I chose to accept this mission. You’re not even considering that I might think this is a good idea or the right thing to do.”

“The right thing to do?” If Jeong Jeong had been a more emotional man he would have been yelling. “The right thing to do would have been to stick to the plan. Keep training and working hard and becoming a real contender for the throne. Not running off on some adventure with a child.”

“Plans change,  _ Admiral _ Jeong Jeong. Now who’s telling me how to think?” Zuko was yelling slightly. “If this works we could end the war years sooner than we could have ever hoped. The comet is coming at the end of the summer. The Fire Lord can’t be allowed to harness it.”

Jeong Jeong seemed to lose some steam at that comment. “Sozin’s comet is a real threat. But one the Order has known about for years.” He pauses for a moment and takes a breath. “I still think this road trip to master the elements is a fool’s errand. But I guess it is your choice to go along with it.”

“Thank you, Master,” Zuko said with a bow of deference. He went on to introduce him to Sokka, Katara, and Aang. The group took Appa to join the deserters’ camp for the night. Zuko enjoyed being around the familiar men. Sokka took to the group of former warriors like a bee to honey and was sitting around the fire listening to their stories intently. Aang and Katara went to the river nearby and Zuko took the opportunity to sit with his old master and have a cup of tea. 

“You are going to teach the Avatar how to firebend,” it was a statement not a question so Zuko did not respond. “Do you have any idea how to teach firebending?”

“I remember how I learned to firebend. I remember how you taught me,” he replied with a smirk. 

The old master gave him a glare in return. “It is going to require patience. You were never my most patient pupil. This will be a challenge for you. It might even be good for you,” he sipped his tea thoughtfully. “That boy has a lot of energy. You’ll either learn patience or kill him. Should be interesting either way.”

Zuko laughed at that. Hoping it was meant as a joke. “Thank you for having so much faith in your student,” his voice was dripping with sarcasm. 

“You should start breathing and meditation exercises with him as soon as you can. He may not be ready for fire for a long time but it’s never too early to learn control. Come to the river, I want to see how rusty you’ve gotten.”

Zuko rolls his eyes but follows his master to the river. They stop a safe distance from Katara and Aang and began their pre training stretches and meditation. They’d gone through this routine so many times that Jeong Jeong did not need to give him any instructions. That is, until it came time to start working with fire. Zuko took his starting pose and waited for his master to instruct him to begin. 

“What are you doing, Zuko?” The old master was giving him what a younger man might call side eye. “Take your shirt off before you catch it on fire and die horribly.”

“Have you ever seen me set a shirt on fire?” Zuko asked, trying to change the subject. 

“I have never seen you firebend with a shirt on, because that is not how it is done. We’ve been over this before. What is wrong?” His tone did not betray it but Zuko knew he actually cared to know. 

Zuko dropped his voice so that only Jeong Jeong could hear him. “They haven’t seen it all before,” he said nodding towards Aang and Katara who were watching them now, waiting for a firebending demonstration. 

“Your marks are nothing to be ashamed of Zuko. They are part of you. These are your friends, it’ll be okay.” Zuko acquiesced and took off his shirt. He heard a slight gasp behind him that sounded like Aang. Zuko went through his katas fluidly and avoided looking towards his friends. At the end of his routine Jeong Jeong gave him an approving slap on his shoulder and declared he hadn’t lost his master status then walked away from the river. Zuko turned around to look at his friends. 

“That was amazing,” Katara said, her gaze firmly on Zuko’s bare chest. He squirmed slightly under the attention. “I’ve never seen firebending like that. It was almost like dancing and you don’t seem nearly as angry as firebenders usually do.”

“Thanks, I think,” he replied with a smile. His hand reached up to rub the back of his neck and he saw Katara track the motion with her eyes. 

“Zuko,” Aang started hesitantly. “What happened to your back?” 

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Katara quickly cut in. 

“Um, thanks.” He took a shuddering breath. “My dad used to- when he’d get angry or he thought I’d messed up or really any reason, I didn’t usually get a lot of explanation.” They both looked at him with sad eyes and Zuko turned away, not liking their pity. He walked back to Jeong Jeong’s tent and sat in silent meditation for a few minutes. 

… 

There was a sudden shriek from the river and Zuko took off running with Jeong Jeong on his heels. Once he arrived he found Aang on the ground, pinned under Sokka, and Katara crying off to the side. She ran away once she saw him. Zuko has to pry Sokka off of Aang in order to get the full story. Aang had been playing with fire, he thought he could copy some of Zuko’s moves, and burned Katara’s hands. Once he heard this Zuko informed Aang that he would be getting up at dawn from now on to meditate with him. Sokka smirked at the punishment. 

Moments later heat began emanating down the river. Zuko was able to make out from the screams of the men in the camp that Zhao was here. He herded the other two boys to Appa and took off to grab Katara. He ran smack into her a second later. 

“Are you okay?” he asked, relieved to see her. “We have to get out of here.”

“I’m fine,” she replied and he noticed that her hands looked surprisingly unscathed. “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to make you feel self conscious earlier.” 

“It’s okay.” She clearly had more to say on the subject but he grabbed her hand and pulled her to Appa. Aang had run off to help Jeong Jeong. Zuko suspected it was more likely he ran off to get away from a very upset Sokka. Zuko cursed at the flighty boy because now he was running to find the Avatar and give him a firm talking to. Keeping the boy alive was getting harder every day. Zuko ran to the edge of the woods screaming the Avatar’s name. He broke through the treeline and immediately froze. Zuko found him taunting Zhao to his wit’s end. Somehow Aang had managed to get the Admiral to burn down his own ship. If Zuko had not been so annoyed at the boy and utterly terrified of the situation, he would have been impressed. But for the moment he was frozen in place as the Admiral turned around. Gold eyes met amber for a moment too long. 

“Prince Zuko?” He heard Zhao say almost reverently. “Well, isn’t this interesting. Risen from the dead to be found amongst enemies and traitors. Your father will be overjoyed,” his tone was oozing venom and the smirk on his face sent a shiver down Zuko’s spine. 

“Zhao,” Zuko replied, purposefully omitting any titles. His face schooled to hide the fear underneath. He’d been caught. The Fire Nation now knew he was alive and with the Avatar. He took up a firebending stance. “Is that anyway to greet royalty?” As the first flames left his fists he felt an unnatural gust of wind smack him head on. When he opened his eyes he was draped over a freakishly strong fourteen year old’s shoulder running at top speed towards Appa. 

“Where’s Jeong Jeong?” Aang asked. 

“He’s gone, they all are. This isn’t the first time they’ve been attacked. They have a system,” Zuko replied as he was tossed onto Appa’s head. Once they were airborne he looked back at his friends. He scrubbed a hand across his face. “Fuck.” 

“What happened?” Sokka asked with a concerned wrinkle between his eyebrows. 

“Zhao recognized me. They definitely know I’m alive now,” he looked over at Aang. “Thanks for getting me out of there buddy. I didn't know what to do,” the other boy just nodded, his features screwed in pain. 

“Aang, you’re burned. Let me see it,” Katara said, grabbing the boy’s arm and wrapping it in water. At her command the water glowed blue and Aang’s burn disappeared. 

“That’s amazing,” Zuko whispered in awe. 

“When did you learn to do that?” Sokka asked. 

“I guess I always knew. Jeong Jeong said that some especially powerful waterbenders have healing abilities,” she replied, seeming very pleased with herself. 

Sokka launched into some story about fish hooks, plural, in his thumb but Zuko wasn’t really paying attention. He just gaped at Katara, marvelling at her raw power. His thoughts were preoccupied with the implications of everything that just happened. Katara noticed his distant expression and reached to put a reassuring hand on his arm. Then, once he’d calmed down a bit, his mind turned to all the tortuous breathing exercises he was going to take a little too much pleasure in making the Avatar do in the morning. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added the Oblivious Zuko tag for a reason friends. Enjoy my awkward child. As someone who has been on multiple dates without knowing they were dates this energy comes very naturally to me.


	7. Azula Interlude I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this chapter. I'm pretty sure last chapter was the worst thing I've written so far, but I'll make it up to you with the best things I've written. Azula's POV is fascinating and dark and put me into a weird headspace. She'll definitely be coming back. Also I did not age up Azula like I did everyone else. Her being 14 is fucking terrifying. 
> 
> A little trigger warning on this chapter. There is some child abuse.

There was no reason for her to be this nervous. Azula is called before her father regularly. She sees him at least once a week. He is her father. She loves him, he loves her. But something feels wrong as she walks towards the throne room. The summons was too sudden, the messenger too frazzled in its delivery. Her father never calls her before him with so little warning. She didn’t even have time to put on her formal armour for him. He won’t like that, she thinks. 

Something about this walk triggers long hidden parts of her memory. Azula has thought of herself as an only child for almost as long as she wasn’t one. She tries not to think about him often. Thoughts of him and mother only ever bring her trouble. But this walk reminds her of him for some reason. 

The first time her father punished her she was five years old, she doesn’t remember what she did to deserve it. Zuko was nowhere to be found. Later that night as she was attempting to keep pressure off of the new burn on her shoulder blade, her bedroom door cracked open. It was him. 

“How are you feeling, Lala?” His voice was soft and scared, too weak for a boy of nine. Father wouldn’t like his tone. 

“I’m fine,” she replied, not looking at him. She didn’t want him to see the red rings around her eyes. 

“I brought you some ointment,” he said, taking a few tentative steps towards her bed. “I can put it on for you, if you like.”

She moved her chin, just barely a nod. He came up and sat behind her, treating her delicate skin with gentle fingers. 

“It gets easier,” he told her quietly. 

“That’s because you’re weak,” she spat back at him. “If you weren’t so weak, father wouldn’t punish you as much. It wouldn’t have to get easier.” 

He smiled at her but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You’re probably right. You should be stronger than me then so you won’t get punished.”

“I will be,” she said. He didn’t leave her until she fell asleep. She would never admit that she was only able to fall asleep because he was there. 

Just over a week later the burn was no more than a sore scar. Azula was in the living space her family shared, experimenting with her fire. She wasn’t supposed to produce flames away from her tutors but she was stronger than they all thought and she would prove it. Her control faltered for a moment and the curtain caught fire. Pure fear overtook her. Father would not like this. She was too upset and couldn’t put the fire out. Instead she fell to her knees, unable to move. Zuko found her like that within a minute. With one swift movement he put the fire out and rushed to his sister’s side. 

“What happened?” He asked in that soft, weak tone. 

“It was an accident, Zuzu! I know I’m not supposed to use fire alone but I didn’t mean to burn anything,” she was trembling and her brother’s arm was strong on her shoulders. “He’s going to punish me for this,” she said, meeting her brother’s eyes. 

“No he won’t,” he promised. She knew that was a lie. Zuko was a terrible liar. “I’ll take care of it.”

They were found soon after that by their father. 

“What’s going on here?” He asked, towering over his children who were still on their knees. 

Azula opened her mouth to speak but Zuko beat her to it. “I wanted to show Azula what I learned in my lessons today and burnt the curtains. I’m sorry father, it was an accident.” Surprise crossed her face but she schooled her features immediately, before he could see, already the perfect emotionless princess she would need to be. 

“You know better, Prince Zuko,” he said, taking another step towards them. Zuko flinched involuntarily. Azula held it in. Fear would only make this worse for them. “You know the punishment.”

“It was my fault father, let Azula go,” Zuko didn’t look up to meet their father’s eyes. Good, he should be ashamed of telling their father what to do.

“She will watch. It is good for her to know what happens when you fail,” he replied. He grabbed Zuko’s shoulder and pulled him to his feet simply to push him back down with force. Zuko stumbled back onto his knees with his head bowed to the ground. A thin line of flame emerged from her father’s pointer finger while a smile stretched across his thin lips. His other hand lifted the back of Zuko’s tunic to reveal a half dozen or so thin red lines. The flame touched the bare skin of his lower back for a few seconds. Zuko bit his lip to avoid showing any more weakness by screaming. Azula couldn’t look away. She was enraptured, she could feel the smallest smile tugging the corners of her lips to match her father’s. He would want her to smile. “Now maybe you’ll remember not to play with fire, son,” he said and left the two of them there. 

Zuko didn’t move while he took a few haggard breaths. “Why did you do that Zuzu?” She asked so quietly she wasn’t sure he’d hear her. 

“I love you, Lala,” was his only reply. She wasn’t sure what that had to do with it. Love was nothing but weakness. That’s what their father always said. 

Once his breathing returned to normal he got up and left. That night, Azula wasn’t sure why but she found herself sneaking into her brother’s room with the same jar of ointment that he’d brought her about a week prior. She stayed with him until he fell asleep. This became their ritual, whenever one would be punished the other would come with ointment. They wouldn’t talk, they just sat together. Even as they grew older and further apart, even as their father favored Azula and she openly taunted him in public. They spent those nights together. Until the night her father told her he was gone. She cried when he told her and was punished for showing such weakness. That was the first punishment she had to bear alone and the last time she cried. Something about it felt fitting. 

She started down the hallway to her father’s throne room with the thought that no one used the common family space anymore. Father almost never used it, even when his household was full. She hadn’t been in there since Zuko died. Some part of Azula had died that day as well. Loving her brother had been a weakness, she was better off without him. No point in a shared space with no one to share it with. She didn’t need anyone to share it with. She didn’t  _ want  _ anyone to share it with. That had been the room where she and Zuko had played together and mother had told them stories. It was better off empty. 

Azula had never meant to make mother leave. She was only six years old. She heard grandfather threaten Zuko and went to warn him. At the time she was frustrated that he refused to believe her. But mother had believed her. And the next day she was gone, grandfather was dead, and they had a coronation to plan. Azula feigned sleep when her mother came by her room late that night, but she’ll never forget the feeling of her mother’s final kiss on her forehead. 

The door to her father’s throne room loomed over her with its deep red varnish and gold trim. She had nothing to fear from what lay behind this door. Her father was the only family she had left. Her father loved her. So why were her palms sweating? And why were the thin red lines on her shoulders and back itching all of sudden? She’d done nothing wrong. Nothing to warrant a punishment. She was the perfect princess. With a deep breath she pushed the doors open. She could just barely make out her father behind a curtain of flames. Once she was an appropriate distance from him she dropped into a deep bow, forehead touching the floor. The same spot that still remembered her mother’s kiss eight years later. 

“Princess Azula, I have a mission for you,” her father said. She sat up to her knees to look at him. He was clutching a crumpled scroll in his fist, the seal of an admiral just barely visible. “As you have heard, the Avatar has returned. You will go, find him, and bring him back to me. I want you to take care of his little companions as well. Ensure they cannot cause us any more trouble,” her father emphasized the companions with fury in his eyes. Azula could not understand why, what trouble could a bunch of peasant sycophants cause the greatest nation in the world? She was sure these companions were nobody of consequence, so why would the Fire Lord deem to speak to her of them specifically?

“I will not disappoint you, father,” she replied. 

“I expect nothing less from you, Princess,” with a wave of his hand she’s dismissed. 

… 

The garden outside of her uncle’s rooms is always neatly manicured. Most of the plants growing there make some delectable tea or another. The entire area smells strongly floral. Azula does not hate it there. Unlike the garden near her rooms, this garden does not hold memories of the people who are never coming back. Once a week, every week they’ve both been in the palace since her brother died, she’s come to these gardens. She’s sat across a small tea table and watched her uncle pour for her. She smirked at his jokes and played Pai Sho while ignoring his meaningless proverbs and curbing her crueler instincts. He taught her firebending tricks that even her most formidable tutors didn’t know. Some days she wished she could just stay here in this garden. 

Today she has to tell her uncle that this will be their last tea for awhile. For once it will be her travelling the world on important business and not him. She is internally happy to be the one leaving for once. She’s sitting across the Pai Sho board from his royal kookiness when she informs him of her new mission. 

“That is a great honor, Niece,” he praises her. She beams at him. “Would you like me to join you on this mission? I could be of some assistance.”

“No, that will not be necessary. Thank you for the offer but I have a team chosen already.” She is leaving the next day to find her old friends. They will be more useful on this mission than an old man who drinks too much tea. 

“Very well,” he smiles at her and takes a long sip of tea. “Princess Azula, can you do something for me?”

She does not like giving out favors. But curiosity wins. He probably wants her to bring back some rare Earth Kingdom tea. She could do that for him, he’s weak but he’s kind to her. “What would you like me to do?”

“Don’t forget yourself on this mission,” Uncle says seriously. “Really think about who you are and what you want from this life. You are capable of great things, it is for you to decide what those things will be.” He reaches across the table and places his hand atop of hers. “Follow your heart. I will surely miss our tea dates. I’ll be sure to put together a satisfactory tea selection for you to take with you on your journey.” 

She attempted to smile at him and agreed. Internally she is confused by his request. She has never been the one to decide what she does and does not do. Father assigned the mission, the choices are not hers. They never are.

… 

Finding Ty Lee at the circus was easy. Initially she hadn’t wanted to come. Azula could understand that, but Azula needed her. Ty Lee had always been someone she could trust, someone she could control. In this mission she would need that. Part of her always knew that Ty Lee had been sent to the circus to escape her. Her parents had been scared of leaving their daughter in the clutches of the royal family after rumors circulated about the nature of Zuko’s death, so they sent her away. They’d been scared of her. But no one escaped that easily. Now she was useful again. The circus was no place to waste away. Ty Lee deserved better than spending her days amongst those circus freaks. Her parents' fear did not need to control her. Azula was rescuing her from withering away in obscurity. 

Finding Mai had taken slightly longer. Her father had been transferred more than once since their days of playing in the palace garden. Azula had not kept track of where Governor Ukano had been assigned. After Zuko had died, Mai’s parents had stopped sending her to play as often. There was no longer a possibility of their daughter being the Fire Lady. Political gain was all her parents wanted. They didn’t care about what Mai wanted. They jumped at the chance to move all over the world for the sake of her father’s political career. Azula was almost doing her a favor by taking her from them. Once Azula tracked her to the newest colony, formerly known as Omashu, she was much easier to convince than Ty Lee. Boredom had always been the strongest motivator with Mai. And the rebellion in the city gave her an enjoyable distraction from her task. Putting down what was left of the city’s rebels was laughably easy and Azula needed to establish herself as a military force to be reckoned with in her own right. 

By the time they left New Ozai, reports came saying that the Avatar had been at the Northern Air Temple. Some upstart commander had attempted to take the ruin and fought him. The story was pitiful. Some refugees and the Avatar took down a Fire Nation squadron with toy bombs and a can do spirit. The commander was returning home with his tail between his legs. The only redeeming factor of the entire encounter were the new war balloons. Those would surely come in handy. The commander will be demoted for his cowardice. Azula regretted missing the show, but she had a mission. That far north there was only one place further for the Avatar to go. The Northern Water Tribe. 

Azula did not know why, but something felt wrong. As if there was a crucial piece of information she was missing. Lines seemed to be missing from her report from the Air Temple. As if there was another player being left out. She knew that was ridiculous. She was the princess, she knew everything that was happening with the war, everything that she needed to know. Her father did not keep things from her. Or at least that’s what she believed. 

If the Avatar was headed to the North Pole, so was she. Zhao’s troops would be laying siege to the barbaric wasteland any day now. Azula would just wait until they were done. When the Avatar escaped Zhao’s clutches (again) she would nab him and end his companions. She had to head north. 

Ty Lee and Mai were already sitting in the dining area of the ship when Azula arrived. Her friends stood as she sat down, as was proper. About halfway through the meal, discussion moved to their plan of attack.

“What happens if Zhao captures the Avatar before we do?” Ty Lee asked. Azula almost cracked the chop stick in her hand in two. 

“He won’t,” she said in a tone that she hoped conveyed that that line of thought would not be tolerated. From the look on Ty Lee’s face, her message had been received. 

“It’s so nice to be back together again,” Ty Lee said, changing the subject. She reached for Azula’s hand across the table. The casual contact was a shock at first but Azula found that she liked the warmth of Ty Lee’s hand in hers. No one had been casually affectionate with her in a long time. Azula hadn’t realized that she’d missed it. 

“We’re just missing Zuko now,” Mai smirked momentarily before regaining her usual impassive mask. Azula froze, she hadn’t heard her brother’s name said aloud in a long time either. Having her friends around again was bringing a lot of things back.

“Yeah!” Ty Lee chirped. “He never liked playing with us much though. But teasing him was so much fun!” Azula’s expression must have shown something because Ty Lee’s face fell when she saw it. “You must miss him a lot.”

“No, I don’t,” Azula said, swallowing over the lump in her throat. The other two exchanged a look that Azula chose not to understand. 

The rest of the meal went by. They made polite conversation about what they’d been up to the last few years. The conversation felt forced, like nobles trying to talk to her at one of her father’s dinners. Not like catching up with her two oldest friends. Azula tried not to think about how things had been. The years of playing in the garden were nothing but memories now. Cartwheeling around with Ty Lee, finding hidden passages in the palace with Mai, begging Zuko for piggy back rides. 

She found herself lost in another memory. He tried to teach her how to feed the turtle-ducks once about a year before his death. She’d gotten frustrated that they didn’t come to her as easily as Zuko and shot flames at the pond. He didn’t yell at her for it like mother would have or punish her like father would. Instead, he simply grabbed her hand to end her terror. 

“They don’t like that,” he told her, through gritted teeth. 

“Why should I care what they like?” She replied, matter of factly. 

“They didn’t do anything to you. And look how cute they are.” That was another of his weaknesses. He always tried to protect the defenseless. But it didn’t matter if others hurt you first, father said that it was important to act with confidence and take care of yourself. She would never give others the chance to hurt her first. But that day Zuko calmed her down and sat with her until the turtle-ducks accepted her bread. She remembers laughing when a baby turtle-duck nuzzled her hand. That was one of the last times she remembers her brother smiling. 

The ship was heading north. According to the captain, they should arrive a week before Zhao’s planned siege. Azula needed to get her head in the game if she was going to succeed. She had to succeed. Failure would not be tolerated. 

That night as all three girls headed to bed Ty Lee pulled Azula into a hug filled with warmth that went on a moment longer than it would have if she was just being polite. This was another thing that she had not had in a long time. 

“I really am glad we are all back together,” Ty Lee whispered into her ear. “I missed you.” With a final squeeze she let go and turned for her room. Azula just stood there for a moment with the shadow of a smile on her face. It had been a long six years. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My beta is back in classes now so she didn't have time to edit this. Let me know if there are any glaring mistakes. I have a serious issue with tenses that I am aware of and working on. If anyone else would like to help out with beta let me know.


	8. The Northern Water Tribe: Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for following this story so far. Your comments and kudos are great writing fuel <3
> 
> I'm not totally happy with this chapter but if I don't hold myself to the Friday post schedule I'll never update. I hope you all like it. We'll be spending a good bit of time in the North Pole.

“Are we there yet?” Sokka asked.

“No,” everyone else responded in unison, completely done with him. They’d been flying through arctic water for what felt like days and everyone’s patience was running thin. Maintaining Zuko’s naturally warm body temperature was draining his energy, as were the two Water Tribesmen and the flying lemur who were cuddled up to him to siphon off that heat. Aang’s airbending allowed him to control his own body temperature but not project heat, so the burden of group heater was left to Zuko alone. Not that he was necessarily complaining, he’s a cuddler. 

After what felt like another eternity, the water around Appa began to ripple unnaturally. Everyone sat up straight but before they could move to react, the water in front of Appa shot up into icy spikes. Appa growled in fright and tried to swerve, everyone had to hang onto the saddle tight in order to not be thrown into the arctic waters. The ice spikes continued to grow around them until Appa was completely surrounded. Three small wooden boats filled with men covered in dark blue parkas came into view in front of and flanking them. 

“Wait,” Katara said, voice filled with wonder. “They’re waterbenders. We found them!”

The lead boat approached them. “Who are you and what do you want?” A man’s voice called from the prow. 

Sokka stood on the saddle to reply. “I am Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe. We are travelling with the Avatar who is here to find a waterbending master.” Aang waved from his position at the head. 

“Who else is with you?” The man asked. 

Sokka looked to Zuko as if to ask what he should do. Zuko gave him a small nod, it wouldn’t help to lie to these people. “This is my sister, Katara of the Southern Water Tribe,” he said motioning to Katara. He took a deep breath. “And this is Zuko of the Fire Nation and the Southern Water Tribe.”

Everything went silent for a moment and Zuko deeply hoped that the Southern Water Tribe part would mean as much as everyone had implied it would. There were some unintelligible mutterings coming from the ship in front of them before the man spoke up again. “Do you mean  _ Prince _ Zuko of the Fire Nation?” In that moment Zuko wished he had a more common name that wasn’t reserved for Fire Nation royalty. 

“And the Southern Water Tribe,” Sokka corrected. “And he doesn’t really like being called a prince.” 

Before Zuko even knew what was happening the boats had gotten much closer and there was a hand on his collar dragging him out of Appa’s saddle. He tried to twist out of the hold but was met with an unbearable cold that he never could have imagined. Being dunked in the arctic ocean was not a pleasant experience, neither was being held under the surface thrashing against his will for about half a minute. When he was pulled back to the surface panting he heard screaming. Specifically Katara and Sokka screaming and cursing at whomever was still holding his collar. Zuko was too cold to register exactly what they were saying. He was barely aware of being laid down on the deck of one of the wooden boats. He closed his eyes and focused on his inner flame, trying to warm himself. He didn’t think the water would have bothered him too much if he’d been ready. He would have controlled his breathing, channeled his heat, and been fine. But he’d spent the last few days using all his energy to be a group heater and he was taken by surprise. What was either a handful of seconds or hours, he had no idea which, later his core had warmed enough to fuel his breath of fire. He began breathing a weak flame onto his fingers to try to regain feeling. Someone above him shrieked and grabbed at his collar, pulling him upright again. 

“Don’t you dare put him back in there!” Katara’s voice shouted. Zuko could see her pointing an accusatory finger in front of him, like a mother to her disobedient child, and the image almost made him smile. 

“He’s breathing fire,” the man holding his collar exclaimed, shaking him slightly. 

“He wouldn’t need to breathe fire if you didn’t keep trying to give him hypothermia,” she retorted, not dropping her stance. Zuko could feel the man behind him shift uncomfortably. 

“Let him down. If he tries anything we can just drown him,” the clear leader of this group said. It was the same man who had talked to Sokka when they were still on Appa. Zuko was dropped unceremoniously back to the deck, too weak still to hold himself up. He stayed curled in a tight ball, focusing on his inner flame and not daring to produce another fire. Katara came over a few moments later and draped something soft and warm that smelled very strongly of her over him. It was her own parka. 

“Put this back on,” he told her over his chattering teeth. “You’re going to get cold.”

She laughed at him. “I think you’re colder,” she informed him and patted his icy hair and sat down by his head. “Apparently it’s protocol to put firebenders in the water before asking any questions,” the disdain was clear in her voice. “No wonder they think we’re barbarians. I guess it’s better than letting the Fire Nation come in a raid and pillage the whole place. But you’re travelling with the Avatar, they shouldn’t just assume you’re a threat.” It was clear that she was talking to herself and not him but he couldn’t resist. 

“You did,” he said while clearing his throat. 

She gave him a smirk and nudged his shoulder. “Touche.” 

He lifted his head slightly and realized that it was just him and Katara on this boat surrounded by blue clad warriors. “Where’s Aang and Sokka?”

“They’re guiding Appa into the city. The warriors wouldn’t let us put you back in the saddle so I stayed with you on their boat. They’re taking us to their chief. I think we’re almost there. You probably can’t see it from down there but this place is beautiful and huge. I can’t believe this is all still here when all that’s left of my home is a couple of igloos and tents.”

He tried to sit up and was able to lean against the side of the boat with Katara’s assistance. She sat beside him. She was right. It was beautiful. Everything was made of ice, the buildings, the bridges, the streets, all of it. And it sparkled in the late afternoon sun. Canals were cut through the city and filled with intricate wooden gondolas. This was a place that had clearly been standing in such grandeur for a long time, untouched by the war. Zuko took Katara’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze. 

“Do you think the south ever looked like this?” She asked him without meeting his eyes. 

“Probably,” he replied. “But I think it will look even better than this in the future.”

“You really believe that?” She still avoided his eyes but leaned her head on his shoulder. 

“Yes, when this is all over you’ll go home and rebuild it. And if I know anything about you and your brother you won’t rest until it’s better than this place could ever hope to be.”

She gave his hand a soft squeeze. “Thank you.”

He attempted a smile but in his current state it probably looked more like a grimace. “I’ll even help if you want.”

She giggled and informed him that she would hold him to that. By the time they reached the chief’s palace, Zuko had regained most of the feeling in his fingers and toes. The water in his hair had frozen into tiny icicles and Katara insisted that his lips had taken on a slightly blue tint. But he could stand, and walk with a little assistance. Katara’s parka was way too small on him but at the moment he didn’t care if he looked stupid. They were taken straight to a grand receiving room that reminded Zuko of his father’s throne room. On a dais in the center of the room stood a grand throne of ice, surrounded by a semi-circle of kneeling cushions. In the main position was a middle aged man with long, dark hair studded with white and blue beads. He held himself with a regal authority that Zuko assumed meant he was the chief. To his right was a girl about Zuko’s age with pure white hair in intricate braids and massive blue eyes that seemed like they could see into his soul. The remaining positions were full of what seemed to be tribal elders. Zuko instinctively dropped into a bow in front of the chief. He could hear the girl beside him giggle at the display. 

“Welcome Avatar and friends,” the chief said. “I am Chief Arnook of the Northern Water Tribe. We are honored to have you.”

“Thank you!” Aang replied in his usual chipper tone. “We are honored to be here.”

“Please make yourselves at home. I will have a guest house set up for you. We will be having a feast tonight in honor of my daughter, Princess Yue’s birthday. We would be honored if you attended.”

“All of us should feel at home?” Aang asked, casting a quick glance at a still shivering Zuko. 

“My council has a few questions for the prince,” the chief said. “But I assure you no further harm will come to him unless it is deemed necessary.” 

“I will stay with him until you’re done then,” Aang replied in a more serious tone. 

“That will not be necessary,” the chief insisted. 

“Of course, but I would prefer to stay.” The chief nodded his acquiescence. 

“Alright, we just want to know what a firebender, much less the Fire Lord’s own son, is doing travelling with the Avatar,” the chief said in disbelief. “Also I would like to know why we received reports years ago that he had been killed by Earth Kingdom assassins.”

“He is going to be my firebending instructor, once I’m ready,” Aang replied. Zuko was grateful he was taking the brunt of this interaction since he was still shivering. He was also getting sick of explaining to everyone they met why he wasn’t dead. Why was no one ever just pleasantly surprised. “And his father had intended to kill him so he ran away years ago. His father passed it off as an assassination in order to bolster the troops.” Zuko had never heard Aang sound so serious for so long and felt a bubble of pride for the kid. 

“There was a rumor years ago that his sudden demise had been the work of the Fire Lord. But I see that is not the case, so what are you doing here, now?” Chief Arnook directed the question to Zuko this time. 

“I want to end this war. It has hurt people of every nation and it is unjust. Helping the Avatar is the best way to bring a swift end to this war,” Zuko replied, deferentially. 

“And when this is all over, do you intend to take your father’s throne?” the older man met Zuko’s eyes which sent another shiver down Zuko’s spine. He had to remind himself this was not his father’s throne room. The eyes staring him down were warm and blue, not gold and unforgiving. 

“If that is what it takes to ensure peace,” was his reply. Part of him always knew that in order to bring peace he’d have to take the throne someday, that was what he’d been training for, but it was not something he thought about often or looked forward to. He still wanted to return to the small tea shop in Ba Sing Se. 

The chief looked at a balding man with a long white beard who gave him a slight nod. The chief nodded back and walked down from the dais. He clasped Zuko’s arm in the same way that Sokka had taught him was a sign of comradery in the Water Tribes. Zuko couldn’t help but smile at him as he returned the gesture. “No one will dip you in the ocean again unless you give them a reason to, you have my word. Perhaps when you have warmed up we can have a conversation about our people’s relationship in the future.”

“I would be honored,” Zuko replied, bowing his head. 

… 

A few hours later, Zuko was still curled up next to the fire in their guest house when Katara informed him he had to get ready for the princess’s feast. He was finally warm again but was still hesitant to leave the fur cocoon he’d built himself. Instead, when Katara came over to try and pull him out, he pulled her down into the fur pile with him. For a moment he just held her in his arms within his warm cocoon. The deep blue of her eyes was mesmerizing. She blushed deeply and laughed so loudly that Aang came running in and when he saw what was happening he jumped into the pile with them, refusing to be left out. By the time Sokka rushed in, boomerang in hand, all three of them were laughing in a heap on the ground. He just rolled his eyes. Eventually they all got up to dress for the feast. 

Zuko found himself in the room he’d be sharing with Sokka. Someone had kindly brought him some warm Water Tribe clothes that would actually fit him and the other boy was helping him figure out how to put it all on. The parka fastened in a way he had never seen before and didn’t necessarily understand. But the fur lining would keep him from having to focus so much energy on maintaining his inner flame. 

“Did you see her?” Sokka asked as he was working on the first tie of Zuko’s coat. 

“Who?” Zuko replied, not understanding Sokka’s non sequitur. 

“The princess,” Sokka said, voice filled with wonder. 

“Of course, she was sitting right next to the chief, right.”

“She’s beautiful,” his eyes took on a glazed over quality that made Zuko want to laugh. He refrained for the sake of his friend’s pride. 

“Yeah, definitely not bad,” was Zuko’s only reply. It received a glare from Sokka. 

“That’s an understatement. She looked like a spirit come to life.” Zuko smiled at the puppy love in his friend’s eyes and zoned out while he continued comparing the princess to other worldly beings as Zuko took over fastening his coat. 

When they left their room, Katara and Aang were already ready in the common area. Aang was still in his yellow robes but Katara had put on a traditional Water Tribe dress that cascaded over her in deep blue and cinched at the waist. The flowing sleeves covered to her fingertips and the embroidery looked like constellations against the dark blue of the skirt. Her hair was done in an intricate braid that Zuko had never seen her wear before. Zuko would never admit it but his eyes took on that same glazed over puppy dog quality. 

The feast was larger than Zuko remembered his birthday celebrations being in the Fire Nation. It was clear from the grandeur of the event that the chief was proud of his daughter and wanted to honor her in front of his people. A small part of Zuko felt envious of her for clearly being loved by her royal father. But Zuko pushed that aside, just because his own father had no heart did not mean that every royal child deserved such treatment. 

Zuko was sitting between Katara and Sokka, who was doing his best to make conversation with the princess on his other side. She seemed relatively amused by him and actually laughed at a few of his jokes. Which elicited many eye rolls and comebacks from his sister. 

The waterbenders did a demonstration that made Zuko’s jaw drop. He’d never seen bending done so fluidly before. It was beautiful. The water swirled overhead and reflected the light in the grand room. It felt like the stars had come inside. After the demonstration there was dancing that Zuko didn’t recognize. He assumed it was traditional to their tribe. Sokka asked Yue if she’d dance with him and she blushed as she took his hand and he led her to the dance floor. Zuko was once again impressed by the worldwide allure of the Water Tribe siblings. Zuko noticed a few Water Tribe girls sneaking glances at him which made him incredibly uncomfortable. On two separate occasions random tribeswomen asked him to dance but he refused. At one point, Aang asked Katara to dance but she also refused and he went to the dance floor by himself anyway. 

“What do you think?” Katara asked him. 

“It’s beautiful. Everything here is beautiful,” Zuko replied. “I’ve never seen bending like that.”

“Me neither,” Katara said longingly. “I hope they teach me how to do that.”

“Me too. Once they do, you’ll have to teach me.”

“Do you think it’ll translate?” She raised her eyebrows at him in intrigue. 

“I bet we could figure out some way to combine them together,” he replied with a smile. “You excited to start training tomorrow?”

“More excited than I’ve ever been about anything,” she said with a far off look to her eye. Zuko smiled widely at her and gave her hand a warm squeeze, he could tell that this was something that she’d been waiting for for a long time and he was genuinely happy for her. She took a long sip of the strange fermented drink that Zuko hadn’t decided if he liked yet. She appeared to steel herself for something. “Do you want to dance?” 

“I don’t know any of these dances,” he replied. 

“That’s okay, I’ll teach you,” she grabbed his hand and he couldn’t help but stand and follow her to the floor. The dance was slow and circular. Zuko tripped over his own feet more than once but Katara gave him occasional instructions and a lot of encouragement, by the end of the first song he felt like he was getting the hang of it. The two of them danced together for the rest of the night. 

… 

The next morning Zuko was up at dawn, meditating with Aang by the fire in the common space. The airbender had taken to the early morning meditations a lot easier than Zuko had expected and he hadn’t gotten the pleasure of watching him struggle to control his breath in the same way Zuko had when he’d first learned. The boy did complain about the breathing exercises extravagantly which annoyed Zuko more than anything else. He could breath like a master but had the patience of a gnat-fly. Just after dawn, Katara floated into the room, more excited than he’d ever seen her. 

“Aang, you ready to go?” She called immediately breaking their concentration. The fire sputtered with Zuko’s startled heart rate for a moment before calming down. 

“Yep! Good timing, this meditation was getting boring. You know I definitely prefer the way the Air Nomads did it,” Aang replied, standing and brushing himself off. 

“Of course you do,” Zuko muttered under his breath, not needing to hear another diatribe about how firebending meditation required focus on the breath while airbending meditation focused on the mind and was therefore more fun. “Have fun you two,” he told them as they raced out the door. He felt a bit like a mom leaving their kid at an athletic practice. 

He went back to meditating quietly while waiting for Sokka to wake up. Knowing him he had a few hours of peace and quiet before the other boy stirred. Zuko even thought that he might see about baking a treat for Aang and Katara to have after their first day of training if Sokka slept late enough. 

In the end, Zuko only got about a half hour to himself before the front door flew open again. Katara walked in muttering to herself so angrily that steam would have been coming out her nose, had she been a firebender. She flung herself face first into the pile of furs near the fire. 

“What happened?” Zuko asked once she’d finished screaming into the pile of furs. 

“They won’t train me,” she replied, rolling over to face him. 

“Why not?” Zuko sounded outraged. 

“Because I’m a girl. And they’re sexist pieces of shit.” She returned to muttering under her breath and Zuko could make out a few comments that made him blush in their vulgarity. 

“That’s fucked up,” Zuko replied, cutting through her muttering. “So what, you’re just not supposed to bend at all?”

“They said female benders are only supposed to heal.”

“Well that’s a waste. What if you don’t want to heal? What if a guy wants to heal?” 

“They can’t.” 

“What if a non-bender woman wants to be a warrior.”

“Don’t even make me laugh.” 

“So what are you going to do about it?” Zuko asked. She sat up and looked at him for the first time. 

“What do you mean?” She quirked an eyebrow at him. 

“I mean, you’re not going to roll over and take this, are you?” 

“Of course I don’t want to, but do I have a choice?” she asked as if she was really looking for an answer. Any other option than just giving in. 

“Maybe try talking to Yue, you can be the first woman to struggle with this,” he said while he tried to think of ideas. 

“That’s a good idea.” She got up and started pacing the room. “Fuck this, let’s fight the patriarchy.” Her eyes burned with determination and Zuko couldn’t help but smile. 

… 

Midday, Sokka had run off to find the princess, Katara had gone to a healing class, and Aang was still at the apparently male only waterbending training. Zuko decided to take a stroll through the city to try and get his bearings. He wanted to find someplace safe for him to do a little firebending practice. He was wrapped in the parka he’d been given the night before. It was so warm and cozy that he thought this was what the inside of a turtle-duck’s shell must feel like for them. However, he felt the water tribe blue washed out his skin and made him look paler than the ice around him. As he walked along one of the central canals, a young man he did not recognize stopped him. 

“Master Pakku would like you to join him for a game of Pai Sho,” the man stated with disinterest. 

“Really?” Zuko replied. He recognized the name. Master Pakku was the highest ranking member in the White Lotus from the Water Tribes and apparently he wanted to see Zuko. He remembered his uncle complaining that Pakku was a grumpy old man who was too stuck in his ways. 

“Follow me,” the other man walked away without a further word. Zuko followed along, having to almost jog to keep pace. He was led to a large house made of ice, not far from the city center and the chief’s palace. The unidentified man led him inside and left him without another word in a receiving room with a few furs, a pair of kneeling cushions, and a table laden with a Pai Sho board. Zuko waited there for what must have been at least a quarter of an hour. Part of him thought it had been stupid to follow the man, this could be a trap or a set up. Someone might try to dunk him in the arctic waters again. He needed to be more careful and think things through. But even with those thoughts he continued to sit and wait. 

The next time the door opened an older man walked in. Zuko recognized him as the balding man with the white beard from the chief’s council of elders. 

“You’re Iroh’s precious hope for the world?” the man asked incredulously. 

“And you must be Master Pakku. I see my uncle’s description was accurate,” he deadpanned in return. 

“Your uncle is one of my oldest friends, and I outrank you, don’t you forget that,” Pakku threatened as he sat down opposite Zuko. “Shall we play.”

They ‘played’ Pai Sho, matching each other code for code. It was dry and much less fun than most of his other games throughout this journey. Zuko became certain that Pakku’s face was permanently stuck like that. 

“Now that that’s over,” Pakku said, putting down the last piece of the pattern. “Let’s talk. How’s the journey going? I trained the Avatar this morning and how that boy hasn’t accidentally ridden some massive animal off a cliff already, I do not know. He doesn’t sit still.”

“I’ve been making him mediate to prepare for firebending training. He can sit still if you make him. I didn’t realize you’d be training the Avatar,” Zuko said. He was beginning to put the pieces together. 

“Who else would do it?” Pakku said as if Zuko had insulted him. 

“So then you were also the one to turn Katara away this morning?” Zuko knew the answer. 

“We don’t train girls to waterbend here,” Pakku glared at him as if Zuko needed to watch his next words carefully. “We have traditions, it’s not how things are done.” 

“What if we’d shown up with a female Avatar? Would you have given up the world’s best chance at peace for your  _ traditions _ ?” Zuko was incredulous. 

“That would have been different.”

“Why? Katara has been waiting for this her whole life. She’s the last southern waterbender. If you don’t train her then waterbending will be lost to your sister tribe forever. They’ll have no one.” 

“Do you have a crush, young man? Why are you talking about her with such passion?” Zuko blushed from his indignation. “There’s no reason to get so upset. She’s just a girl. She’ll learn her place,” Pakku took a deep breath. “Trust me, don’t let a woman affect you like this. They just end up hurting you in the end.” 

Zuko scoffed at that. She shouldn’t have to learn a place she didn’t want and he said as much. Pakku made some unflattering remarks about how they do things in the Fire Nation. It was overall a very unproductive conversation. At the end of the conversation Pakku handed him a scroll. Lana had sent him a letter because she knew he’d end up in the North Pole eventually. 

“I’m expecting a letter from Grand Master Iroh in the next few days as well. I’ll let you know when it comes,” Pakku told him. 

“Please do. And next time maybe you can bring your sister. My uncle says she’s also a member of the Order,” Zuko replied. 

“Your uncle was always a bit too fond of Yagoda.” Pakku rolled his eyes. 

Zuko excused himself as politely as he could given that he already did not like the man and headed back towards the guest house. 

Lana’s letter didn’t have any important updates but it was nice to hear from her. The shop was doing well. A few of his friends from school had stopped by to ask about him and told her to say hello. The old woman down the street was hosting a weekly card game that Lana had been going to. She reminded him to keep eating and was happy that he’d finally met up with the Avatar but fussed a bit over his head injury. He missed her so much it hurt. 

He arrived back at the guest house lost in thought. As he passed through the front door he was greeted by Katara, Sokka, Aang, and Yue sitting around the fire. Katara smiled up at him britely. 

“Hey, come sit. We’re coming up with a plan to crush the patriarchy,” she said, patting the fur next to her. He sat down excitedly. 

“This is so exciting!” Yue exclaimed with a little clap. “I’ve never done something so rebellious.”

“What if I just teach you everything they teach me afterwards?” Aang asked. 

“No that won’t work,” Yue said. “First, Master Pakku will catch you. That man can sense waterbending. He always catches the boys when they do stupid stuff. And then you’ll both be in a lot of trouble. Second, it won’t help anyone else. Katara said she wanted to change things for everyone, that’s why I want to help.”

“Yes,” Katara agreed. “Everyone should get a choice. Guys should heal if they want and girls should fight. We should start by asking nicely. Yue, do you think your dad would listen to us if we asked?” 

“Maybe, I can subtly bring it up at dinner tonight. We’re going to have to be persistent and patient about this,” the princess replied. 

“Okay, talk to him and let us know. We can talk more tomorrow.” They all agreed to meet back the next day and Sokka left to walk Yue home. Aang went to feed Appa, leaving Zuko and Katara alone next to the fire. 

“Pakku’s an ass by the way,” Zuko told her. 

“Why do you say that?” She asked with a chuckle. 

“He invited me over to play Pai Sho. My uncle always said he was a grump and he was right.”

“Your uncle knows him?” Katara asked. “Let me guess, secret organization stuff?”

“Yeah,” Zuko laughed. 

“Well now I’m judging your secret organization for letting in people like Pakku,” she laughed and leaned closer to him on the furs. Probably trying to cuddle close to him for his warmth. “You want to hear a secret?” He nodded. “I recognize Pakku’s name. When my Gran Gran was my age she was in an arranged betrothal and lived in this tribe. She wasn’t sure if it was what she wanted and she didn’t like feeling forced into a life she didn’t choose so she ran away. She’d been engaged to a waterbender named Pakku.” 

“No way,” Zuko gaped. “Pakku was almost your grandpa. Does he know who you are?”

“No, and I’m not telling him. If he figures it out I’ll feign ignorance.” They both laughed and chatted by the fire until it was time to make dinner. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am still looking for a beta if anyone is interested in giving me a hand. I love this story and want it to be the best it can be.


	9. The Northern Water Tribe: Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got so long! Sorry not sorry. 
> 
> Also huge thank you to my new beta!

Subtlety and patience apparently were not Katara’s strengths. The following day, Yue had come over and informed them that her father had been very neutral to the idea of women training in some basic waterbending. She took this as a win, and suggested Katara come in for an audience a few days later to plead her case. Zuko, Sokka, and Aang came to stand in the back as moral support. It was going so well in the beginning. Katara was making valid points, and Zuko could see the expressions of some of the elders becoming less severe. But the other shoe always drops. 

“It is important for women to be able to defend themselves. What happens if the tribe is attacked and the forces make it inland? The women should be able to defend themselves, until the brave warriors of the tribe are able to come and save them.” She seemed to be taking the route of flattery. In Zuko’s opinion, she was laying it on a little thick, but it seemed to be stirring a few of the puffed up men on the council. The idea was to take it in steps. Women’s self defense classes seemed like a logical first request to Yue and Katara. 

“The women wouldn’t be able to handle that kind of pressure. They are fragile. It is too much to expect such delicate creatures to defend themselves,” one of the tribal elders stated. 

“Are you saying they would be better off letting themselves be attacked then be burdened by defending themselves?” Katara asked incredulously, breaking her mask of cordiality.

“Watch your tone, girl. Show the proper respect to your elders. Know your place,” Pakku said. Zuko could see Katara’s fists clench and he thought that if she bent fire, steam would be coming out of her nostrils, like had happened to him on more than one mortifying occasion. A small crack formed on the ice below her. 

“That’s the problem here! Everyone has such strict places. It’s confining and suffocating,” she replied. She looked at the council defiantly, her eyes like the blue fire he had seen at the bottom of the flames in the kitchen back in his home in Ba Sing Se. 

“How dare you!” Pakku shouted. “Apologize. This council won’t listen to such a disrespectful girl.”

“No. I’m right and you all know it.” The cracks in the ice increased. She turned around to look at her friends and there was murder in her glare. Zuko knew that look, the plan was out the window, and she was about to be reckless. “I challenge you. I’m going outside. Come out and fight me if you’re man enough. And when I win you’ll have to teach me and any other woman who wants to combat waterbend.” She turned on her heels and stormed out of the hall leaving crevices in the ice in her wake. There was a stunned silence. One of the elders finally made a comment about women being too emotional. Sokka, Zuko, and Aang picked their jaws off the floor to follow her. 

She was in the ice field behind the palace when they found her, stretching as if she was getting ready to actually fight. “Katara, you won’t actually win this fight,” Sokka stated. “He’s a master bender.”

“I don’t care,” was her reply. 

“You could get really hurt,” Zuko said, hoping to talk some sense into her. He knew how she was feeling. When he’d agreed to the Agni Kai he’d felt the same way. That gut feeling that he was right and the need to fight the issues of the world single handedly. He often wondered what he would have done if he’d actually arrived at the arena to fight that day. He was so ready to fight the old general who proposed the plan, but he still couldn’t imagine fighting his father. 

“I’ll be fine.” She clearly wasn’t going to listen to them. 

“Katara, fighting is never the answer. Why don’t you try talking to them again?” Aang’s pacifism was as clear as ever. 

“These bastards won’t listen to me. They only respect aggression and strength. I’ll show them. Someone needs to slap some sense into him.” Pakku emerged from the palace and moved to walk right past Katara. “Aren’t you going to fight?” She called to him.

“Go back to the healing huts where you belong.” He turned away and Katara smacked the back of his head with a water whip. He whirled around, his mask of cool disdain finally slipping.

“Fine, you want a fight so badly. Watch closely.” 

Zuko hadn’t seen much waterbending in his life but he was sure this was some of the most impressive bending he’d ever see. The water responded to Pakku’s tiniest movements. His streams circled Katara effortlessly and his ice wall was flawless. Zuko was standing with Sokka in what was apparently the splash zone because Katara redirected a few streams of water that hit them head on. She skated over Pakku’s ice wall. 

Pakku redirected a blast of water that Zuko was sure was going to do her in, but she froze her feet to the ground to steady herself and weathered the blow. He marveled at her natural ability and determination, and couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she is surrounded by her element with so much fire in her eyes. She started shooting razor sharp ice disks at Pakku’s neck and it seemed like she was aiming for the kill. She was probably assuming that if Pakku was truly a master then he’ll survive. But the move is still savage. The fight went on for a lot longer than anyone expected. A large crowd had formed to watch. Pakku raised ice walls that Katara liquified. Katara sent water whips that Pakku redirected. 

Finally Pakku managed to get the upper hand and pin Katara down with ice shards. She struggled against them but had clearly been subdued. 

“This fight is over,” Pakku said, approaching her with a smug smile. 

“No it’s not, I’m not done,” she yelled and struggled more. The lining of her parka must have shifted, because Pakku’s eyes widened like he had seen a ghost. 

“My necklace,” he gasped.

“No, it’s mine!” Katara was still struggling, trying desperately to gain control of the ice pinning her down. 

“I made this, sixty years ago, for my Kanna,” Pakku said, his expression conflicted.

“She wasn’t yours. My Gran Gran didn’t belong to anyone. That’s why she ran away, she didn’t want to live by your suffocating rules.” The ice around Katara unfroze and she fell to her knees momentarily before resuming her fighting stance. 

“She’s alive,” he whispered to himself. He was quiet for a long moment, just staring at the necklace. “Be on the training field at dawn. Don’t be late,” Pakku stated and walked away. 

Katara looked over and Zuko and Sokka who were still dripping wet. “Did I just win?” She asked. 

Both boys shrugged, unsure of what just happened. 

… 

Zuko was in the kitchen with Katara making dinner not long after her fight. “You’re a natural. Pakku is lucky to train someone so gifted,” he told her. 

“Thanks,” she said and smiled at him. “He was smirking at me, like I wasn’t even worth his time, and I just got so angry.”

“I could tell.” He laughed softly. “It was amazing.”

“You really think so?” She stopped what she was doing and looked at him. 

“I do.” He met her gaze. “It’s incredible. You’re so passionate and fierce.”

She looked up at him with a soft look in her eyes. Her eyes were like magnets that were drawing Zuko in. He could feel himself inching towards her but couldn’t seem to stop. Time froze with her just a breath away. They stood there, staring at each other and moving imperceptibly slowly. He was aware of her hair, still drying after her fight with Pakku, and the slope of her nose, and the shape of her lips- 

Then Aang’s cheerful voice was calling for Zuko and the moment was broken. They both jumped back, as if someone had dropped a hot coal in between them. A bald head popped into the doorway. 

“Hey Zuko, there’s someone at the door for you,” Aang said. Frowning to himself, Zuko followed the boy back into the main room to find one of the chief’s guards waiting for him. 

“Prince Zuko, the chief would like you to dine with him tonight,” the guard said.

“Just me?” Zuko asked, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Yes, he’d like to have a private conversation.”

Zuko agreed and went to grab his parka and tell Katara he was leaving. She looked momentarily disappointed but didn’t say anything. Then he followed the guard back to the palace where he was led to the family residence. The chief was already seated in a small dining room. Zuko gave a small bow and took the seat opposite him. He realized that, however unconsciously, he was straightening his back, clearing his expression, until he wore a regnal mask. It was one that he had seen Uncle Iroh wear many times, back in the Fire Nation, as he attended to his duties as Crown Prince. 

“Thank you for coming, Prince Zuko,” Arnook said. 

“Thank you for the invitation. It is my honor to get to meet with you.” Zuko replied. His first instinct was to tell the Chief to simply call him Zuko, as he had to anyone else who tried to refer to his royal title, but then he saw this meeting as what it was: a meeting between the leader of a nation and an heir to one. He held his tongue, and awaited the chief's response. Judging by the way Arnook inclined his head to him, he had passed a test. 

“I was hoping we could discuss your intentions for the long term. I understand you are trying to end the war with the Avatar and intend to ascend the Dragon Throne in the end” At Zuko’s nod, he continued. “I want our nations to have a much better relationship after the war.” As a meaty stew was brought out for them, Zuko could not help but appreciate Arnook cutting straight to the point. More than once had he been caught unawares in the Fire Nation Royal Court, as someone wove webs with their words, webs that he had no hope of understanding. “I believe that once the war is over, the Northern Water Tribe should no longer practice such strict isolationism. Too long have we cut ourselves off from the world, and even I can realize the stagnancy that that has brought us.”

Zuko bit back an angry retort on behalf of Katara, and decided to address the first part of Arnook’s statement. “I would very much like to reinstate a relationship between the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes if I take the throne,” he said honestly. 

“I am glad to hear it, Prince Zuko.Is it right that you’ve been made an honorary member of the Southern Water Tribe?” 

“Yes. One of their warriors ceremonially adopted me during my travels with the Avatar.”

“That’s good. It is so much easier to keep these things within the Tribes. We are a very loyal people,” After clarifying this information, Chief Arnook seemed ready to move on to the treaty itself. He began to list the things that the Northern Water Tribe would want out of a potential treaty, things like trade routes and increased access to raw materials that they couldn’t get in the ice. Zuko listened and told him some of the things he’d expect the Fire Nation to need in return, like healers, nautical routes, and fishing rights. It was a very productive conversation. Near the end of the meal Zuko was feeling very proud of his diplomatic abilities. However, he couldn’t get the image of Katara, eyes flashing with some inner fire, out of his head. There was one more thing that he needed to clarify. 

“Chief Arnook, may I ask what your plan for female benders is after today’s events?” Zuko asked, trying to seem neutral. 

“Master Pakku has requested to train Katara of the Southern Tribe, and I granted the request,” he replied magnanimously.

“What about other women who want to learn to waterbend?” 

“ Prince Zuko, you must understand that we have traditions here, traditions that have driven the way we have lived for hundreds of years.”

“I was under the impression that the terms of Katara’s fight were that any woman could train if they choose.” Zuko met the older man’s eyes in an attempt at intimidation. 

“She was in no place to make such demands. And I do not believe she actually won the fight,” he stated and met Zuko’s gaze. 

“I see,” Zuko said and tapped his fingers against his knee to think. “In the Fire Nation, some of the best fighters and soldiers are women. They are strong, and serve the Nation honorably. My people believe in equality. I don’t know how my people would react, knowing that our allies did not give their citizens equal opportunities.” Zuko had not been in the Fire Nation in six years. And he had never been in tune to the opinions of the people. But this angle was all he had available to him.

“What are you saying?” Arnook looked at him skeptically. 

“I am not saying anything in particular. Just making an observation.” They exchanged another charged look. 

“I will take that into consideration,” Arnook said with a nod, as if to close out that line of discussion. He seemed, however, to be considering what he had to say next. 

“There is one other thing I would like to bring up with you. If you take the throne I want our alliance to be strong. I do not want to fear Fire Nation aggression again in either of our lifetimes, or even beyond that. You seem like an honorable young man. In this tribe, strong alliances are formed through marriage. My daughter is about your age. I had been planning on betrothing her to a local chieftain’s son named Hahn, but I believe our alliance would be more valuable. She is a bright and kind girl and I’m sure she’d be an excellent Fire Lady. I also think she’d enjoy the additional liberties women are given in your nation. Would you consider it?” 

Zuko almost choked on the dessert in his mouth. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know Yue. She seemed nice but Sokka hadn’t stopped talking about her since they’d gotten here. If Zuko accepted, Sokka would kill him. “I’ll think about it.”

“Thank you, Prince Zuko.”

The conversation seemed to have come to a natural end, and the two men exchanged polite farewells. Zuko headed back to the guest house quickly, his mind racing. 

When Zuko walked through the door everyone was lounging in the main room. Suddenly exhausted, Zuko collapsed onto the furs around the crackling fire.“Dinner with the chief went well I see,” Sokka said with a laugh. 

“It was going great till the end,” Zuko said. “He wants to make an alliance with me if I become the Fire Lord at the end of this mess.”

“That’s good!” Aang exclaimed. “That’d be really good for the world.”

“Yeah, it’d be great. And we agreed on a lot of the things that both nations could gain from a future treaty.” Zuko sat up and took a deep breath. “But do you guys know how the Northern Water Tribe solidifies alliances?”

Katara and Sokka exchanged a look. “What do you mean?” Sokka asked, although Katara seemed to understand what Zuko was implying, if the stormy set of her face was any indication

“He asked me if I’d consider marrying Yue to solidify the alliance.” Sokka’s face fell. 

“Would you?” Katara asked in a small voice. 

“I don’t know. I barely know her. She seems nice, but I don’t know, I can’t really see it happening. How would Yue even thrive in the Fire Nation? She’s never even left the North.” It would definitely be a culture shock for the princess, who had known nothing but ice and snow her entire life. “Political marriages were pretty common from what I remember in the Fire Nation nobility. My parents were an arranged marriage but they hated each other, so that’s a bad example” He looked up at the others, suddenly feeling the burden of his future rule. “But if I’m going to be Fire Lord, marrying a foreign noble would be a good way of showing that I’m serious about lasting peace with the other nations. I’ve spent enough time in the Earth Kingdom to know that someone from their nobility would drive me crazy. On the other hand, I’m also eighteen, and I haven’t really considered getting married yet. That was a lot to throw at me in one dinner.” Zuko took a deep breath and laid back on the ground. 

“You seem overwhelmed,” Aang stated. “How about some nice calming tea?” Zuko agreed, thinking with a pang of Lana and her perfect tea. Sokka yelled at Aang to bring some back for everyone, and Aang went into the kitchen, laughing.

“Does the Southern Water Tribe have a nobility? How do you guys deal with this shit?” Zuko asked the uncharacteristically silent siblings. 

“We don’t really do arranged marriages anymore, but I think we used to back when we were able to worry about things other than simply surviving. And, actually, we don’t use our titles very often because there’s not really enough people down south to have any perks. But since our dad is the chief, I guess technically we’re the prince and princess of the Southern Water Tribe,” Sokka told him, his lips quirking.

“Hold on,” Zuko sat up and stared at them. “Your dad is the chief? How did this never come up before?” 

“It definitely has, you just weren’t paying attention,” Sokka teased. “You know if you really want foreign royalty, you could marry me.” Sokka wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “I’d make a radiant bride.”

“Don’t tempt me,” Zuko responded with a wink and both boys laughed. Then, Aang hollered from the kitchen that he couldn’t hold four cups on his own, so Sokka got up to go help him. 

“You  _ can’t  _ marry Yue,” Katara said to him once they were alone. 

“I probably won’t,” Zuko replied. “I told Arnook I’d think about it. I’d need to talk to my uncle and the Order about what would be best. It’d be a good move politically but I feel like we need to actually end this war before I start doing things for political reasons. This very much seems like an after the war problem.” 

“That’s good,” she took a deep breath. She smirked at him. She scooted closer to him, probably trying to steal his heat again. She was on her stomach looking at him, so close that her head was almost on his shoulder. 

They lay there in comfortable silence, until he realized something about what she had said.

“Why did you say I  _ can’t  _ marry Yue?” He asked her. 

She blushed slightly. “It’d really hurt Sokka’s feelings,” she said without meeting his eyes. He smirked at her, a slight blush creeping onto his cheeks as well. He unsuccessfully fought off a ridiculously sappy smile, and tried to look anywhere but at Katara, whose cheeks were deep red in the light from the flickering flames. He could not say anything without stammering and making a general fool of himself, so he settled for nudging her playfully with his shoulder, still with that stupid smile on his face. She laughed, that bright tinkling laugh that came so naturally from Katara, and just then, Aang and Sokka came back with four cups of tea. They passed them around, and Zuko sat back, content to listen to Sokka’s exaggerated tale involving him, his boomerang, and three seal-otters, and Katara whacking him on the head and telling it properly. Aang laughed, and a warm feeling spread through Zuko’s stomach. This was his family, and he belonged here, with them. 

… 

When the moon was high in the sky, Zuko was laying flat on his back in the room he shared with Sokka, staring at the elaborate design in the ice of the ceiling. 

“Hey buddy, is it weird if I talk to you about Yue? Now that Your Fieriness is getting married?” Sokka asked with a thick layer of sarcasm to his voice. 

Zuko threw his spare pillow at the other boy who just laughed on impact. “Do you actually have something to say or were you just being an ass?” Zuko turned to look at his friend in the dark. 

“I’ve been spending time with her everyday that we've been here and I really like her. Like I  _ like like _ her. I want to kiss her but I keep pig-chickening out. Suki kissed me first and the only girl my age back home was Katara. I don’t have a lot of experience with this stuff,” Sokka proclaimed. 

“You just gotta do it. Next time the moment feels right just lean in and go for it,” Zuko told him from his own extremely limited experience. 

“That’s easy for you to say.”

“What’s that mean?” 

“Have you seen yourself, Zuko? You’re hot. I’m sure all the girls in Ba Sing Se were lining up to kiss you,” Sokka told him completely seriously. 

“Have you seen yourself?” Zuko asked, a little incredulous. “You and your sister are so hot that you left a trail of broken hearts through the Earth Kingdom. And Yue seems super into you! She even laughs at your terrible jokes. I bet she really wants you to kiss her.” 

“She’d probably rather you kiss her since you’re exotic and her dad wants you to marry her,” Sokka complained. 

“We are  _ not _ playing the who’s hotter and should kiss Yue game here. I don’t want to kiss her. You do it,” Zuko stated matter of factly. 

“You’re definitely hotter,” Sokka whined. 

“And this is why I question your sexuality,” Zuko mumbled. 

“What was that?” Sokka squeaked. 

“Nothing.” Sokka threw Zuko’s spare pillow back at him but missed. Zuko just laughed, and threw another back.

… 

Master Pakku started letting Zuko practice his firebending in the back of his training yard for a few hours in the mornings while his advanced class students did repair work around the tribe. This particular morning the older man was just watching Zuko. It was incredibly unnerving. 

“I have seven girls in my basics class now and I can’t help but feel like it’s your fault,” the old man called while Zuko took a quick water break. 

“Don’t look at me, it was all Katara. I’d never tell her to challenge a master to a fight. That strategy didn’t work so well for me the first time,” he said with a slight smirk, trying to pass the comment off as a joke. 

“Yes, that story does paint you as a very naive boy,” the man smirked back. “Nice to see that some things do not change.” Zuko scowled at him and stood to resume his practice. He did not want to know how much of his conversation with the chief the older man was aware of. “Spar with me. It’s been a few years since I’ve bested a firebender.” 

Pakku moved to stand across from Zuko on the ice field, both men bowed and took up bending stances. A smile crept onto Zuko’s face. Part of him wanted to beat up the sour old man. Zuko took a deep breath and waited for Pakku to take the first shot. Waterbending is not inherently aggressive and Zuko hoped that forcing his opponent to take on the offensive would get him off balance. Pakku took the bait. He threw a water whip towards Zuko which he was able to easily diffuse into steam with a fire blast. Zuko returned by pushing a wall of fire towards his opponent which Pakku met with a wall of ice. A volley of ice daggers came shooting towards Zuko which he met with a fire whip that headed towards Pakku’s side. He dodged out of the way and lost his balance for a second. Zuko shot fire at his feet which almost knocked him over but the older man regained his balance by freezing his feet to the ground and surrounded Zuko with a stream of water. Zuko matched the move by surrounding Pakku with a ring of fire. 

The two men stood at a stalemate for a moment and Zuko noticed that they had drawn an audience. The basics class had stopped their practice to watch, this included Katara and Aang. There were a series of cheers for both sides coming from all around them. Zuko took a deep breath and dropped his ring of fire in order to break the water ring around him with a flaming kick flip. He vaulted over a few blocks of ice and brought a flaming kick much closer to the old master sending him stumbling backwards. Zuko knew that waterbending needed grand gestures and hoped that if he closed in on Pakku’s space his fire would be an advantage. 

The fight continued like this, trading attacks, no one gaining the upper hand, until Zuko was sweating and struggling to control his breathing. He saw an opening, Pakku left his side undefended for a moment and Zuko ran to kick fire and finally knock the man down. However, he didn’t see the patch of black ice that had formed from his fire heating up the ice below them and it refreezing. When his foot hit that patch he slid about five feet and fell flat on his ass in front of his opponent. Pakku encased his hands and feet in ice for a few moments. 

“I can’t wait to tell Jeong Jeong you were taken down by some black ice,” the sour old man chuckled and offered a hand to help him up. Zuko scowled in response and took the hand. “Would you be willing to spar with some of my warriors? It would be good for them to have some experience with firebending.” 

“I could do that.” Zuko nodded and Pakku gave him what could almost be called a smile. 

A younger man came up and handed Pakku a scroll with the a red wax seal. Zuko recognized it as Uncle’s seal, the seal of a Grand Master of the White Lotus. “Come. We’ll go visit my sister and open this together.” He strode off and gave the beginner class a series of instructions before leaving the ice field with Zuko on his heels. 

Zuko followed him into the healing hut. Pakku walked up to an older woman with neat gray hair and kind eyes and exchanged a few whispered words. The woman walked up to Zuko and introduced herself as Yagoda. She led Zuko and Pakku into a side room of the healing hut and closed the flaps behind them. 

“Young man, what have you been up to?” Yagoda chided, gesturing to Zuko’s arm. He looked down in surprise, and realized that he was bleeding. “Let me see that.” She grabbed his arm and led him to a seat before he could protest. 

“I must have been grazed by an ice dagger while we were sparring. I didn’t even notice. It doesn’t hurt, no need to fuss,” Zuko replied. Yagoda made a disapproving tsk noise and called water to her hand. When the water touched his arm it began to glow. Zuko gawked at the technique that amazed him every time he saw it. Yagoda seemed satisfied with his awe and pulled out a seaweed cookie to give to him like he’s a child who just got a shot. He accepted it happily. 

“Now that his scratch is dealt with can we get on with the actually important business?” Pakku drawled. Yagoda glared at him but motioned for him to continue. He broke the seal of the scroll and held it out for them all to see. 

Yagoda gasped in shock, one hand flying to her mouth. “No,” she whispered. 

“It can’t be,” Zuko muttered. 

“It can.” Pakku said grimly. 

… 

As the front door to their guest house closed behind him, Zuko collapsed face first into the furs on the floor. 

“Buddy, if you keep collapsing as soon as you walk in, we’re going to start worrying about you,” Sokka started with a laugh. Zuko simply groaned in reply. “What’s wrong this time?”

He sat up, deciding that he’d have to tell them sooner rather than later. Sokka was sitting near the hearth next to Yue who Zuko had not noticed was here when he first walked in. He blushed slightly upon seeing her for the first time since her father’s offer. They were alone and sitting very close together. Zuko realized what he’d walked into, and he felt himself blush to the tips of his ears. . 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously and didn’t look at them. “Are Katara and Aang home?” 

Sokka shouted his sister’s name in the way that only a truly annoying sibling can. Her head popped out of her room to glare at her brother. Her expression softened when she saw Zuko and she moved to sit next to him with a shy smile. Aang came bounding out of the kitchen shortly after with a handful of nuts, his growing, teenage appetite getting the better of him. 

“They’re home,” Sokka replied cheekily once everyone had settled. 

“So, um, my uncle sent Pakku a letter,” Zuko intently stared at the fire. “And, um, the Fire Nation western fleet is six weeks away.” The silence was deafening. And then everyone started talking at once. 

… 

The next morning, Zuko found himself inexplicably drawn back to the healing hut. Something in the back of his mind told him that this was where he needed to be. As he was approaching the structure and trying to decide what he was doing there, the kind older woman from the day before was stepping out to throw out some waste water. 

“Well hello there, Zuko,” she greeted him with a wide smile. “What brings you here?”

He froze. Why was he here? “I was just… wandering around, I guess,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Pakku isn’t having me train with the warriors until the afternoon.”

She smirked at him conspiratorially. “If that is the case, then come inside.” She motioned to him and he followed. “I have some bandages, needles, and scalpels that need sterilization. Could you help me boil some water?” He nodded eagerly, appreciative of being given a task. She sat him down at a small table in the corner of the room with a large bowl of water and collected all of the supplies that she needed to be sterilized. 

He went about his task diligently but was deeply lost in thought. He couldn’t get the events of the previous few days out of his mind. Arnook’s offer, Uncle’s letter, Katara’s confusing behavior. His mind was spinning. 

“What has you so worked up?” Yagoda asked him as she sorted through her newly sterilized equipment. 

“It’s nothing really,” he insisted without meeting her eyes. 

“It does not seem like nothing. Go on, tell an old woman about your worries, I may be able to help.” Her kind eyes bore into him as if seeing straight to his core. He sighed deeply. Someone to talk to would be nice. 

“Have you ever been in love?” He asked her, not entirely sure where the question came from. 

She looked at him with a sad smile. “Yes, once.”

“How did you know?”

“I was young. The man I loved was from one of the smaller villages on the outskirts of the city. He was a hunter and would bring the meat to my father to be distributed after each hunt and he would often sit with me while I cleaned his kills. I can’t tell you how I knew, I just did. I felt it in my soul. But my father had already promised me to another man, so when the time came I asked the man I loved to stop visiting me, and I married my husband.” She was clearly lost in the memory. 

“Are you happy with that choice?” Zuko asked her, aware that it was an extremely intrusive question but needing to know. 

“I am. I care for my husband deeply and I love my children and grandchildren more than life itself. I have led a good life. The whims of a young heart change like the wind. A foundation built on trust and respect will be much stronger than one built on passion. I did not want to throw away everything for a man I hardly knew. I mean look at my brother, he was in love once and when that didn’t work out he refused to marry and is now old, grumpy, and alone.” She stared intently at him for a heartbeat as if really seeing him. “The duty and destiny you have been tasked with is difficult. I admire you for taking it on and I am sorry you have had to carry this burden. I know that the choices you make now will seem earth shattering, but life will go on. It always does. The last time I saw the man I had loved, I thought the world would end. My heart broke. But the next day the sun came up, and the day after that. We make sacrifices for our people and our honor.”

He nodded. He’d already made so many sacrifices for his destiny but he will always need to make more. If destiny called, he would always answer. 

… 

Zuko began training with the warriors of the tribe so they could practice fighting a firebender. This led to him sparring everyday until he usually missed a hit in the late afternoon and ended up in Yagoda’s healing hut being lectured by the old healer on self preservation instincts. Honestly, many of the scrapes and cuts he went in for were minor enough that he wouldn’t bother, but he enjoyed her company and she enjoyed the ease with which he boiled water and sanitized her instruments, so neither say anything when he arrived with nothing more than a sore shoulder some days. 

On this particular day, Zuko came in much earlier than usual. He was brought into the healing hut leaning on a master waterbender who was still profusely apologizing. During their spar, the warrior was pinned in a corner by the firebender and, not knowing what to do, he melted the top layer of ice under Zuko’s feet. When he started slipping and sliding on the now slick ice, the warrior tried to send out a water whip to take him down. But he struck with too much force, just as Zuko was falling, and the whip wrapped around his arm, pulling his shoulder out of its socket. 

“What did you do to him, Roatik?” Yagoda asked the waterbender once he’d laid Zuko on the examination table. 

“I’m sorry. It’s his shoulder. I didn’t mean to do it that hard.” The boy looked down, ashamed. 

“It’s okay,” Zuko grunted from his position. “Shit happens.”

“Language Zuko!” Yagoda chided. “Roatik, would you send Katara in here and ask her to bring a pain tonic with her.” The boy muttered another apology and gratefully left the room. She turned to Zuko. “Look at you. Poor thing.”

“It doesn’t hurt that much,” he lied. She gave him a  _ look _ that he’d learned meant she wasn’t buying it. And then his brain caught up with the rest of her words.“Katara’s here?”

“Yes, she came in for a healing class after morning waterbending training. I thought you’d like her here for you, and I’d like to teach her how to set a shoulder.” She gave him a knowing smile which he pointedly ignored. 

Katara came in a few minutes later with a large cup full of a strange gray tea that smelled slightly acrid. Yagoda instructed him to drink the entire cup which he did in a few unpleasant gulps. Yagoda moved around him for a few minutes adjusting pillows and laying out supplies. 

“Katara, stay with him a few moments and come grab me once the pain killer has set in,” Yagoda said as she left the room. 

“What happened to you?” Katara asked once they were alone. 

“Roatik was being a little bitch and wouldn’t yield,” Zuko grunted out. The pain was intense and his language was only going to get worse at this point. But the comment made Katara laugh. 

“And I’m guessing you wouldn’t yield either.” He looked at her as if she’d grown a second head. 

“Of course not, I was winning.”

“Yep, definitely looks like you won.” She laughs at him and the sound takes some of the edge off of Zuko’s pain. So does looking at her face and having her near him. He can’t help but think that she makes everything better. Her hair was in a tight braid and her hair loopies were hanging in her face. Zuko could feel himself grinning at her like an idiot but didn’t care. He wanted to run his hands through her dark, soft hair and reached out to touch one of the hair loopies with his good arm. The pain on his other side was all but forgotten. His hand rested on her cheek and she giggled softly. “I think your pain killer is working.”

“You’re so pretty,” he said dreamily. 

She laughed again. “Thanks, Zuko.”

“No but like you’re  _ so  _ pretty. Your eyes are so big and blue like super hot fire. I get lost in them but you don’t notice. And your lips look so kissable. And you’re smart and nice and strong and cool and I like you,” he rambled at her while petting her hair loopy. “I have to remind myself to not like you all the time.”

She looked momentarily stricken, then smiled. “You really mean that?” 

“Of course!” He shouted. “Doing all the chores with you is the best part of the day. That’s why I don’t make Sokka and Aang help more. Then I wouldn’t get as much time with you.” He moved his hand away from her hair loopy and booped her on the nose. 

“I like spending time with you too,” she whispered to him as she got up to find Yagoda. He couldn’t see how wide her smile was as she walked away. He informed Yagoda that she was the best grandma in the world which made her laugh and he could not figure out what these women found so funny today. As he was wondering why Katara had laughed so much (he wasn’t that funny), Yugoda came around to him, and sharply popped his arm back into the socket. The sharp pain, combined with whatever was in the gray thing Katara brought him, had his eyes drooping. Before he knew it, he was asleep. 

… 

Yagoda did not clear him to go back to training right away, and had smirked at him when she next saw him. Why, he had no idea. He tried to think if he had said anything when he had hurt his shoulder, but realized that he couldn’t remember anything after the sudden, jerking pain of the water whip dislocating his shoulder He spent the next day in one of the chief’s strategy meetings for the upcoming attack. It was an incredibly long day and Zuko just wanted to collapse in his bed, having missed dinner with his friends, and not think about all of Arnook’s not so subtle comments about his ‘proposal.’ He opened the flap to his and Sokka’s room and was greeted by squeals. He shrieked and jumped back. 

“Some warning would have been nice,” he shouted into the opening. 

“Sorry,” Yue’s delicate voice responded at the same time as Sokka cursed loudly. Zuko made an indecipherable sound of annoyance and turned away from the room. Katara was standing in the doorway of her room having come out at the commotion and was smirking at him. 

“You want to go on a walk?” He asked her. “I need to get away from this.” He motioned widely towards his door. She blushed, agreed, and went to grab her parka. It had not escaped Zuko’s notice that she hadn’t looked him in the eye since he hurt his shoulder but he was just happy that she didn’t seem upset with him and decided not to bring it up. The two of them chatter idly as they stroll. He remembered an ice cave that Sokka told him about not too far away and suggested they go check it out. She smiled widely at the idea so he led her there. 

The cave was beautiful. It overlooked the ocean and was covered in white icicles that sparkled in the moonlight. Katara’s eyes sparkled as well and Zuko couldn’t help but stare at how perfect she looked in this space. Someone, probably Sokka or Yue, left a few candles lining the walls of the cave. With a flick of his wrist Zuko lit the candles, giving a warm glow to the entire space. He walked deeper into the cave and Katara followed. When he stopped near a bench someone clearly water bent into the back wall Katara moved to stand very close to him. He startled slightly at her proximity. 

“Are you cold?” He asked, concerned and wrapped his good arm around her. 

“Not particularly,” she replied and blushed. 

He moved his arm quickly. “Sorry, I just assumed.”

She rolled her eyes and muttered, “you oblivious oaf,” with a fond smile. Suddenly, her expression turned serious, and she seemed to be coming to a decision.She wrapped one hand in the collar of his parka and pulled him down to her level. Her lips locked onto his and his brain short circuited. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do I enjoy writing Zuko high too much? Yes. Will this continue happening? Probably. 
> 
> Thank you all for your kudos and comments and support. You keep me writing and I appreciate you all so much!


	10. Katara Interlude I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to preemptively defend this chapter:  
> 1\. Katara and Zuko both canonically have a temper.  
> 2\. Zuko was willing to drift around the world trying to hog tie a god for years to please his terrible father. Imagine the shit he'd do to please authority figures who actually like him.  
> 3\. Teenager hormones. I literally put a note on the top of this chapter in my notes that there were too many feelings in this chapter to do it in Zuko's POV. 
> 
> Please enjoy! And thank you thank you thank you for all the comments and kudos. I really enjoy writing but you all encourage me to keep going <3

The moment his lips met hers was euphoric. She’d been thinking about those lips for weeks. Since her mother’s necklace and Aunt Wu. This boy had haunted her dreams. His lips were a little chapped and warm against hers. Everything about him was always so warm. This was what she wanted and when Katara wanted something she went for it. But now he wasn’t moving. He wasn’t kissing her back. He wasn’t doing anything. 

Why wasn’t he  _ doing anything? _

She broke the kiss with a shuddering breath and retreated to the other side of the suddenly small space. “I’m sorry. I thought- I misread-” 

“It’s okay!” Zuko exclaimed, taking a tentative step towards her. 

“I won’t do it again. Don’t worry.” Katara studied the cave floor by her feet, utterly shocked. She had never felt rejection before. The men who’d interested her so far on their travels had shown equal or more interest in her. Haru and Jet, for all his faults, had never made her feel anything but wanted romantically. The rejection stung like salt water on a scrape. How had she so drastically misread Zuko’s feelings?

“You can if you want,” he replied, rubbing the back of his neck and staring anywhere but at her. 

“What do you want?” She asked, finally looking at the nervous boy fidgeting in front of her. 

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” she exclaimed incredulously. The rise of anger felt easier than the pang of rejection from a moment before. “What do you mean you don’t know? When you were on the painkillers you said you thought I was kissable.”

“I did?” A blush was visible on his pale skin. “I don’t remember that. But I hadn’t thought about you like that. Not really. Or least I’d tried not to.” He paused. “I don’t usually think about what I want. That only leads to disappointment.” 

She looked at him perplexed. “What do you mean?”

“I literally have not been able to make a choice for myself,  _ ever _ . I never get to choose what I want. It’s easier to just not think about it. I just need some time to think.” His tone was defeated and he finally looked at her. She was staring daggers at him and her expression told him that she didn’t understand what he meant so he continued. “When I was a kid, before, when I was still in the Fire Nation, my whole life was planned for me. I was a prince, I was supposed to grow up to be a strong leader so I could lead troops or govern a territory or later, after my cousin died, be the Fire Lord. One day my family would pick a suitable match and that would be that. Then my uncle told me to leave the palace but my life was still similarly mapped out. Agni, I didn’t even get to pick my new name. Lee was already on all my papers when I got there. I trained so someday I could be the Fire Lord and bring peace to the world. The Order told me where to go when and what to do. I didn’t even really choose my friends, they were just the only people who’d talk to the awkward new kid from the colonies. I grew to love that life even though I didn’t choose it. I was happy there, happier than I knew was possible back at the palace, but I left to find you guys because they told me to. I have a destiny. I’m supposed to bring peace. The Order has treated me well and I love them and I know what we’re doing is for the greater good but I still don’t have choices. I have to do whatever it takes to restore peace to the world and fix the mess my family made. What’s the point of wanting when I ultimately don’t have a choice?”

She took a few steps closing the space between them to place a hand on his arm. He was clearly shaken by the admission. “You’re allowed to want things, Zuko.”

“Oh yeah,” he chucked but there was no warmth in his laugh now. “What happens if I want you, and then I have to marry some noble woman to settle unrest or make some alliance? What happens if I end up having to actually marry Yue and then I’ll be hurting you and Sokka? If the Order told me that was what I had to do, I’d do it. Wanting is dangerous, Katara.” He turned away from her. “This is exactly why I’ve never really dated. There was no point in getting attached to someone. I’m always going to have to put my destiny first.” He took a step away from her touch. 

“So what? You’re just going to go through life never wanting anything and doing what you’re told?” She shouted, the bud of anger becoming a full bloom in her chest.

“If that’s what it takes.” His tone was steely and full of old resolve. 

“Do you even want to be Fire Lord?” She took a step forward and invaded his personal space with the invasive question. 

He took a deep breath, clearly surprised by the question. She always thought his face was too expressive. He was far too easy to read. Usually she found it cute. But now she could see him internally debating the merits of lying to her. He’s a terrible liar. “I don’t know,” he sighed, running a hand through his shaggy hair. 

“You should think about what you want, Zuko. Take some agency in your life,” she said and left the cave without looking back. If he followed her or even came back to the guest house that night she didn’t know it. 

… 

Katara woke up the next morning with the sting of rejection significantly diminished. What had replaced the feeling in her chest was much closer akin to pity. She knows what it’s like to not have a choice. She grew up in a tiny village on a barely inhabitable chunk of ice at the end of the world. Everything she did had to be about survival. Until a few months ago she thought she didn’t have a choice in life either. She wanted to show Zuko that he can make his own choices too. 

Walking out of her room to see Zuko meditating on the floor in just an undershirt and loose fitting pants did make the rejection sting slightly worse. The sight of his toned muscles made her feel things and question her plan for the morning. But that didn’t change her resolve so she marched forward with the plan anyway. 

“What are you doing this morning?” She asked him. 

He opened his eyes with a start making the fire sputter and immediately shrunk in on himself when he saw her, rubbing his neck nervously. “Hey, Katara.” His blush would have been adorable if it didn’t make the rejection sting worse. “Um, nothing much. Arnook asked me and Sokka to come to another counsel meeting but that’s not until after lunch.”

“Good, get your coat and come with me.” She turned on her heels to grab her coat as he got up. 

“Where are we going?” He asked. His actions clearly stated that he would follow her regardless, but he was curious. 

“We’re going to spar.”

That stopped him momentarily. “Oh, Yagoda hasn’t cleared me yet.”

“That’s okay. I won’t tell her if you don’t,” she said with a wicked smirk. He seemed uncomfortable but nodded. Now that she knew to look, she saw that this boy really did not stand up for himself. This only strengthened her resolve. 

He followed a few steps behind her to the training field. His discomfort rolled off of him like waves of heat from the fire he bends. At no point did he try to talk to her. Once they reached the field they both walked to opposite ends of a sparring ring. Katara had been working hard the last few weeks, she’d progressed from the basics classes to intermediate classes in record time, but she still knew that she wasn’t likely to win a fight with a master firebender. But she’d been watching him fight for a couple weeks now, probably closer than she should have been. The way he moved when he fought made her stomach flip. She knew how he moved. Plus she had a few tricks up her sleeve that she hadn’t shown anyone yet. And she wasn’t fighting to beat him, just to teach him a lesson. 

Katara made the first move by sending a water whip at his chest. He cut through it with an arc of fire but did not counter attack immediately. She took the opportunity to send over a few ice daggers. He met them with fireballs but still didn’t take the offensive. She cracked the ice under his feet, he rolled away. She sent over a wave, he put up a fire wall. 

“What are you doing?” She screamed across the field. 

“Letting you get out your anger,” he replied. 

“Well stop it and fight me!” 

“Look, I know you’re upset about last night. If it makes you feel better to throw attacks at me then-” he did not finish that thought because she smacked him in the face with a snowball. He spluttered and wiped the snow out of his eyes. “Feel better yet?” 

She made an incoherent, annoyed noise and launched into something she was sure he’d notice. She kicked her foot out creating an arc of water towards him and followed it up with two punches that sent ice daggers right for his chest. He had to roll out of the way to avoid the onslaught. 

“Hey! Those are my moves. When did you start firebending?” He asked with a smile that made Katara think that this sparring session was a bad plan as her knees weakened. He got up and walked towards her with no intention of continuing the fight. “Do that again.”

“No, we’re supposed to be sparring.”

“I wonder if it’d work the other way. Can you show me how to make a wave, maybe I could do it with fire.” He sounded genuinely excited. 

“Why won’t you fight me?” She asked, ignoring him. They were having two different conversations and she wanted to get back on track. 

“I don’t really want to fight you,” he replied and smirked. In a teasing tone that made her fume, “weren’t you telling me to do things I want to?”

She scowled at him. He had a point. “Why? Is it because I’m a girl?” She knew it wasn’t but couldn’t think of another reason. 

“No, of course not! You’re my friend. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“But you fight with Sokka all the time.”

“Do you want to wrestle over the last piece of seal jerky because that I can do,” he laughed. She resisted the urge to slap him. 

“Then how come you can not want to fight me? I thought you weren’t allowed to want things.” He groaned and she took it as a victory. 

“Can we not do this right now, Katara.”

“It’s okay to not want to fight me, but not okay to want to kiss me?” The next groan was much louder and was accompanied by an eye roll. It was clear his temper was running thin.

“Okay so we’re doing this here. You know what? I thought a lot about what you said last night, and I disagree with you. I shouldn’t think about what I want and I don’t think you should want me to.” His gaze turned predatory as he took a step closer to her. “If I stopped and thought about what I wanted then I wouldn’t be here.” Her face was stricken at the statement. He was going for the kill, and stepped much closer to her. “Do you know where this all leads? No matter what, do you know what’s going to happen at the end of Aang’s adventure?”

“We’ll end the war,” she stated, no longer following him. 

“Not just that, Katara. At some point, maybe not soon but sometime, we are going to face the Fire Lord.” Realization began to dawn on her. “My father. The man who hurt me, who tried to kill me twice. Whose face still haunts my nightmares. Sometimes I have trouble looking in the mirror because I only see him in my reflection. If I stopped for a second and thought about what I wanted I would not be on a spirits forsaken quest to confront my abuser or training an actual happy child to face my nightmares, but here I am.” He gestured around him. His expression got serious. “What I want is to take Aang and hide somewhere safe, away from the war where I never have to see my father again and he can run around and make friends with everyone we meet. But what I want does not matter, so please stop saying otherwise.” He turned around and took a few steps before calling over his shoulder. “Maybe you could show me that move again some other time.” And he left her standing there in shock. She’d never seen him mad like that, almost vicious. Her half baked plan to fight him into admitting his feelings had worked, but also backfired spectacularly in her face. 

A deep voice behind her boomed out “You may have scared him away, but I’d still like to see that move again.” She internally cursed, Pakku. She did not need an old grumpy man criticizing her at this moment. But he’s her master so she repeated the firebending form she’d copied off Zuko and practiced after everyone else went to bed for the last week. “That’s some ingenuity, young lady. You’re starting to think like a master.” He looked at her with something resembling pride and she glowed with the praise. He may be prickly, but he was her teacher and his approval still meant something to her. 

“I’ve figured out a few other moves as well.” He nodded at her to go on. She showed him the spinning kick that created a water vortex around her. Then she punched out balls of ice. Then finally she clapped dramatically in front of herself creating a direct blast of water. 

He applauded her quietly. “Very impressive. I’d say it’s time we move you along to the advanced classes. You could teach those boys a thing or two.” She genuinely smiled at him. An expression she did not think the old man would ever be able to get out of her. “You know you look a lot like her when you smile.”

“What?” Neither of them had mentioned the person they knew in common since Pakku recognized her necklace in their first fight. 

“Kanna. You look like her when you smile.” He wasn’t looking directly at her, but Katara could see a faint smile on his face from the memory. “I truly did love her, just so you know. I believed I knew what was best for her. Maybe I didn’t. Right after she left I scoured the tundra looking for her. I was ready to promise her anything she wanted to come back. Then there was a storm. Everyone told me that there was no way she would have survived it out there alone. After a long time I accepted that she was not coming back but I never moved on.”

Katara gaped at him. “She didn’t go into the tundra. She stowed away on a merchant ship to the Earth Kingdom.” He nodded. “Why are you telling me all this?” She started to feel something resembling sympathy for the old man and did not appreciate it. 

“I don’t know. I felt like you should know. Or maybe I just wanted to tell someone, it’s been a long time since I’ve talked about her.” He moved as if to leave but then turned back to her and reached into his parka. His hand outstretched towards her. “I want you to have this,” he said and opened his palm to reveal a Pai Sho tile. She looked at him confused. “After all this time with the firebender you haven’t learned about our organization. He must be better at keeping his mouth shut than I expected.”

“You mean his uncle’s old people club? The group that raised him and sent him on this mission?” She asked. 

He laughed. “That’s what he calls it. Well, it’s called the Order of the White Lotus, come to my home for dinner tomorrow evening and I’ll teach you what you need to know.” He took her hand and placed the tile in her palm. 

“Why?”

“You’re talented, Katara. And headstrong. You’re hardworking and you’ve advanced more quickly than any student I’ve trained. You can do some real good.” She gaped at him. He released her and began to turn away. “Don’t you have training to get back to?” Then he strode across the ice field and back to his class. 

Katara stared after him for a long moment. And people thought girls were confusing. 

… 

The sun was hanging low in the sky by the time Katara got back to the guest house. She steeled herself for what, or more like who, might be behind the door before crossing the threshold. She breathed an involuntary sigh of relief when she saw her brother and Aang sitting on the furs alone. 

“Hey Katara!” Aang chirped. 

“Hey, where’s Zuko?” She asked before she could totally relax.

“He went to the healing hut to talk to Yagoda after the council meeting,” Sokka told her. “He said it was for his shoulder but I think he just wanted to hang out with her. He said not to wait for him because she’d take him home for dinner, he seemed really out of it today.” Knowing he wasn’t home, she allowed herself to collapse in a heap of shame next to her brother. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Promise you won’t judge me or get all weird and big brothery.”

“I won’t judge you but I make no promises on the other front. I’m your big brother, I reserve that right.” She scowled at him. He patted her hair lovingly. “Just tell me what’s wrong. You’ve told me everything our whole lives, don’t hold out on me now.” 

She stole a look at Aang and debated asking him to leave but ultimately decided that he needed to get over his little crush sooner rather than later. “I kissed Zuko last night, and he didn’t kiss me back. Then I tried to fight him today and I might have yelled at him a little bit.”

Aang made a small squeaking sound and looked disappointed. Sokka just gaped at her for a moment. “Well I did not see that coming. He didn’t kiss you back, really? And you yelled at him? No wonder he went to get old lady advice,” her big brother stated. 

“He yelled back,” she pouted. “I thought he was giving me all these signs that he liked me too. I’m an idiot.” She buried her face in her hands. 

“No, you’re totally right. He’d been acting like he liked you for a while. I’d been debating giving him a big brother talk,” Sokka said while rubbing her back. 

“He said he didn’t know if he wanted to kiss me because he doesn’t let himself want things in order to follow his destiny or something stupid like that.”

“Well that makes some sense,” Aang piped in. She gave him a withering look to which he put his hands up in surrender. “Just try to look at it from his perspective. Up until a couple months ago a group of old men had spent years telling him he was the  _ only  _ hope for the world. They’ve been training him since he was, what, twelve to essentially save the world. Trust me, being the last hope for the world is hard on a kid. I can understand that he shut down a bit.”

“That does make sense, it’s probably nothing personal, Katara,” Sokka agreed. 

“That’s so sad though. Do you feel like you can’t want anything too, Aang?” Katara asked.

Aang smiled sadly. “I still want things, but I’m also aware that there is a lot of pressure on me and my wants don’t always matter as much as doing the right thing. I think I’ve probably coped in different ways. I did try to run away from my destiny in a way that I don’t think Zuko ever would.” He looked away from them when he mentioned running away. Sokka gave him a reassuring shoulder pat. 

“Well then I’ll just show him that it’s okay to open up,” she stated. 

“Katara, I know that you’re probably hurting, but don’t try to fix him if he doesn’t want to be fixed,” Sokka said. 

She looked absolutely offended. “I’m not trying to help him because I’m hurt. I’m not some love sick little girl. I want to help him because I’m his friend and he should have some autonomy in his life.”

Sokka gave her a skeptical look. Aang put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She looked at her young friend and saw a deep sadness in his eyes. Part of her always knew that he’d probably rather be travelling around the world for fun, riding every weird creature he could find and making friends instead of training all the time and running from the Fire Nation. But never before had she seen it so plainly written on his face. She pulled him into a hug. Never had she stopped to consider all the pressure on her friends. She got up and walked to the kitchen to make dinner and think through her next plan better than she’d thought through this morning’s. 

… 

Zuko didn’t come home for dinner. It was getting late so Katara retired to her room before seeing him again. Part of her was relieved after her behavior that morning. She was laying awake in her bed when she finally heard someone enter the main room. There was some hushed talking that she couldn’t quite make out between the three boys before the flap to her room opened. 

“What the hell, Katara?” Zuko said once he was inside her room. 

“Hey! You can’t just come in here without knocking. I could’ve been naked.”

“And you can’t just go shit talking me to Sokka. I have to share a room with him,” he exclaimed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, clearly annoyed. “I tried to give you space today. What else do you want from me?” 

“I didn’t shit talk you to Sokka. I just wanted to talk to someone. He’s my brother, I’m allowed to talk to him.” She sat up to her knees in her bed in order to be on eye level with him. 

“Well he’s upset that I hurt your feelings and I think I have to sleep with Aang and Appa tonight. I’ll never sleep over the sound of their airbender snoring!”

“I told him not to get all weird and big brothery. But if you weren’t so damn confusing then I wouldn’t have to talk to him in the first place.” The anger felt good. She preferred this anger to rejection and pity. 

“What do you mean? How am I confusing? I’ve been nothing but  _ painfully  _ honest with you,” he shouted. She should not find the way his jaw clenched so attractive. This was not the time. But there was something so alluring about the way his shoulders tensed and his glare seemed to pierce her skin. 

“I don’t get you. You are always helping me, and you compliment me, and you spend all this time with me, and give me all these signals but then you’re too blind to even realize you’re doing it.” She moved to the end of her bed to close the distance between them. “It’s not like I was asking you to marry me last night. I just tried to kiss you, but you’re so repressed you couldn’t even make a simple decision on your own.” She poked him hard in the sternum. He was fuming. She even thought there might be smoke coming from his clenched fists. “The entire world doesn’t have to be on your shoulders.” 

“It’s not like I  _ didn’t  _ want to kiss you last night,” he mumbled, studying his feet. 

She smirked. “What was that?”

“I was confused and you just started shouting at me. What was I supposed to do?” His hand gestured wildly and he looked up, into her eyes. She was momentarily lost in the molten gold. He took a step closer to her, pressing against her still outstretched hand. 

“Admittedly, that probably wasn’t the most mature thing I’ve ever done.” She moved to further close the space between them. Her hand was now flat against his firm chest. “What do you want now, Zuko?” She whispered as their faces inched closer. 

The flap to her room flew open once more. “Nope, we are not doing this right now. Both of you need to cool off and think some stuff through. Come on buddy, it’s bedtime,” Sokka proclaimed as he grabbed Zuko by the wrist and pulled him out of the room. 

“Do I still have to sleep with Aang?” She heard Zuko ask from the living room. 

“No, I wasn’t being serious. I wouldn’t wish his snoring on my worst enemy.” Sokka’s voice was light and easy going. 

“Hey! It’s not that bad,” Aang sounded affronted. The other boys laughed. 

“Plus,” Sokka continued. “I can’t let you out of my sight until I’m certain you won’t go back in there.”

Katara rolled her eyes and fell back on her bed. Boys make no sense. 


	11. The Northern Water Tribe: Part 3

Over the course of the last eighty years, Yagoda had had five children, four of whom lived to adulthood, fifteen healthy grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren with another on the way. Her home had not been quiet in the sixty-one years since her eldest’s birth, and she liked it that way. At the moment, Zuko was sitting on the ground of her kitchen with her three year old great-grandson, Tado, crawling all over him and Yagoda couldn’t help but smile and think of the jokes her fellow healers had started to make about him being her sixteenth grandchild. 

“Why were you so hesitant to go home this evening, Ikkuma?” Yagoda asked him while preparing dinner. Zuko recognized the pet name Yagoda had begun calling him and it made him smile. When he had asked, she said it meant fire in the old tongue of the Water Tribes. 

He sighed. “I don’t want to see Katara yet.”

“Hm, I heard you two had it out on the training field this morning,” she said. 

“How did you-”

“News travels fast in this tribe.” His eyes narrowed suspiciously, and she decided to take pity on him. “Also one of my grandsons was training with the morning class.”

“Up, up,” Tado requested loudly while pulling on Zuko’s hair. He scooped the boy up and stood to begin bouncing him while pacing the kitchen. 

“She kissed me last night,” Zuko admitted. “Then she got mad at me. And then she tried to fight me today and got even more mad. I don’t know what to do.” The toddler in his arms could sense the distress in his voice and wrapped his little arms around Zuko’s neck The hug was suffocating but appreciated. 

“Why did she get mad?” Yagoda asked, level headed. 

“Because I didn’t kiss her back,” Zuko replied. 

“If you do not feel the same way about her then she will get over it in time. She is a mature young woman.” Yagoda turned back to stirring the soup in front of her. 

“That’s the problem. I told her I didn’t know how I felt. Which I don’t. I’ve been trying really hard not to think about her like  _ that _ . I’m just so confused. And the yelling did not help.” He leaned against the counter with a huff which caused Tado to squirm until he was put down to run about on his own. 

“Why have you been trying not to think about her, might I ask?”

“I mean what’s the point? You said it yourself, I have to make sacrifices for my destiny. You did when you were younger. If I don’t admit to liking her then it won’t hurt when I have to give her up.”

Yagoda put down her stirring spoon and crossed the room to draw the teenager into a tight embrace. “Ikkuma, that’s not how anything works. You can’t just ignore feelings until they go away. I am so sorry if you thought that closing yourself off is what my advice meant. Ignoring your feelings is never the way to handle them.” She pulled back to look him in the eyes. “Yes, it is possible you will get hurt. Heartbreak is hard but it is an important part of life. You cannot close yourself off to avoid the vague possibility of pain. Your destiny and your duty can be dealt with at a later time.” 

“But haven’t I hurt enough? I am so sick of being left behind or leaving people behind for my destiny. I don’t want to continue hurting the people I care about.” He sighed so deeply he felt it in his bones. “My mother left me behind, then I left my sister behind, now I’ve left my aunt behind too. I’ve had two lives and given them both up to come on this journey and make a new one. I can’t start caring about Katara and then have to leave her behind too. I’m already too attached to the three of them. I’m just making it all harder on myself.”

The older woman put a comforting hand on his cheek. “You’ve made more sacrifices in your short life than most will in their entire lifetime. And you will most likely need to make many more. You are a strong young man. It is okay to take small joys in life where you can. If you think that Katara could bring you some happiness, then take it. Worry about the future when it comes. When I was young, I loved the hunter I told you of. It hurt to leave him, but I never regretted loving him.”

“I think I do want to kiss her,” Zuko said quietly, not meeting the older woman’s eyes. 

“Then you should tell her that,” Yagoda stated, moving back towards her soup pot. “After dinner, though.” She smiled at him as she began pouring the soup into bowls and instructed him to corral the toddler towards the table. 

… 

Zuko walked home with a whole plan. He was going to ask her on another walk and lean in to kiss her under the nearly full moon. He was even going to apologize for being so indecisive. But the plan went out the window once he entered the guest house. 

Sokka’s attempt at a withering stare was the first thing to greet him. He responded with his hands up in surrender. “What did I do?” 

“You upset Katara. And I get that you’re confused and all but I feel like I should be mad because she’s my baby sister and she’s upset.” He waved his finger threateningly. “I can’t figure out if I’m supposed to fight you for upsetting my sister or hug you because you’re my friend and you’re confused. Part of me wants to make you sleep with Aang until you figure out your shit.” Sokka’s withering stare turned into more of a confused pout. “Do you want to talk about it or something, buddy?” 

“I talked about it a lot with Yagoda and I feel like I should just talk to Katara now.”

“She already went to bed, you can talk to her in the morning.” Zuko was already halfway to Katara’s door, completely ignoring Sokka’s request to wait until morning. A small bubble of inexplicable anger came over Zuko when he heard Katara had gone to bed without talking to him. This had happened occasionally when he was younger and still transitioning to his new life. He would get so mad and if someone asked him later what he was mad about, he would have no answer. He had thought that he had grown past that, but something about the frustrations of the last few months was making him fall back on bad habits. He pushed open the door. 

The conversation with Katara was a blur. Zuko thought for a moment that they might kiss again and then a hand unceremoniously yanked him from the room. It was the most emotionally exhausting five minutes of his life. He’s not even totally sure how he ended up laying flat on his back on his bed. 

Sokka’s breathing was slow and even on the other side of the room. Zuko focused on it to calm his own mind in an attempt to sleep. The effort was proving fruitless when he heard someone pattering around the main room. Something in his mind sparked. Maybe Katara was similarly restless, maybe she was thinking about him too. The last few hours had opened up a floodgate in his thoughts where she was concerned and now he couldn’t stop thinking about kissing her again. 

As quietly as he could, he threw off the furs covering him and slipped from his bed. Sokka’s breathing did not change and there was no movement from his side of the room. Zuko opened the flap to their room slightly and slipped through it, placing it back silently. When he was sure that the action had not woken his friend, he took a sigh of relief and turned around. 

What greeted him was a bit of a surprise. Instead of the waterbender who’d been plaguing his sleepless mind, the Avatar sat next to the glowing embers of the evening’s fire, looking as restless as Zuko felt. 

“What are you doing awake?” Zuko asked as he sat down next to him. 

“I couldn’t sleep,” Aang replied. “My thoughts are too loud tonight.”

“Mine too,” Zuko sighed. “What are you thinking about?”

“You.” Aang looked at him finally. Zuko had to fight the urge to chuckle at his earnest expression. “I just hadn’t realized before how much you must understand what I’m going through. I thought I was all alone in this whole chosen one destiny thing. But I’m not and you’re handling it all so much better than I am. How do you do it?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“All your uncle’s old people friends have been telling you that you’re the world’s last hope for years. But you’re not running away or freaking out. I feel like I’m always one wrong step away from freaking out or running away again. I don’t know how I’m supposed to do it all the time.” Aang’s soft gray eyes were shining, and Zuko suddenly realized that, in his whirlwind of emotions about Katara, he had not considered Aang, who had to master an entire element in a few short weeks with Master Grumpy. He pulled the kid into what had to be the most uncomfortable hug of his life. He was not accustomed to initiating physical contact.

“Oh, Aang. I’m four years older than you. You just missed my freaking out and running away phase. I used to sneak out of my apartment in Ba Sing Se all the time just to prove that I could. For a while, when I was sixteen, I would put on my blue spirit mask and beat up thugs with my friend Nova. And I was so moody all the time for at least a year after I got to Ba Sing Se. Someday you’ll meet Lana and she can tell you some stories about me sulking and brooding all the time when I first moved in with her.” This made Aang , although a little wetly. “And I am genuinely happy you showed up and everyone could start looking at you like the savior of the world and forget about me.” He nudged the boy next to him playfully. “You’ll grow into your destiny, I know it.” 

“Do you really think that your destiny has to be more important than your desires and it’s pointless to want things?” Aang asked him with a heartbroken look in his eyes. 

“So you talked to Katara too.” He sighed. “That is something I’ve been telling myself for a few years. It helped me deal with all the sacrifices people expected of me all the time. But I don’t want you to think like that. You are a great kid and deserve better.” Zuko paused as something began to click into place. 

“I think you deserve better too, Zuko.” Aang wrapped his arms around Zuko’s middle and rested his head on the older boy's shoulder. Zuko absentmindedly patted his back. 

“Yeah, maybe I do.” The idea of Aang shutting himself off felt wrong to Zuko. There was a disconnect between that and the fact that it had felt fine to do it to himself for most of his adolescence. 

“How do you know when it’s the right thing to do to give up something you want, though?” Aang asked, pulling back to look Zuko in the eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” he blushed deeply. “I have been wanting to kiss Katara for a while. Pretty much since I met her. And I’d started thinking that once I saved the world then I’d get to because that’s what always happens in the spirit tales. The hero gets the girl. And I know that’s not how I should be thinking of it, and Katara doesn’t  _ belong  _ to anyone, and-” 

“Aang, slow down. I’m right here, and I’m listening to you.” 

“Right.” Aang took a deep breath. “And I can see that Katara doesn’t think of me like that. She only sees me as a friend, and I can tell that she likes you. And maybe you like her too. But the thing is, I don’t know how to just stop wanting her.”

“Aang, you can’t control what someone else feels. All you can do is hope that when you like someone they’ll like you back. And if they don’t you have to move on. It can be hard but you’ll just have to be happy that Katara is happy, even if it’s not with you. You’ll find someone great who you want to kiss and who wants to kiss you back someday.” Zuko met his eyes. “Would it upset you if Katara and I started-”

“No, of course not. You guys can do whatever you want. Just maybe not in front of me, at least until I can get to the happy for her place you mentioned.” Aang shot him a soft smile. “Us chosen kids have to stick together, right.”

“Yeah. I’m always going to be here for you Aang. I promise.”

“I’m scared, Zuko.” Aang sighed. “What if I don’t know what the right thing to do is? Or what if I’m not able to do what needs to be done? It’s a lot of pressure.”

“I know it’s scary. But you can do it. Just do what you think is right and try not to second guess yourself too much. Whatever you’re able to do will be what needs to be done. You just have to believe in yourself.” Aang nodded and appeared to think about that for a moment. 

“Thanks for sitting with me, I actually feel a lot better. It’s nice to know I’m not alone.” Aang smiled at him genuinely. 

“Right back at you. You’re a really wise kid.” Zuko smiled back and rubbed over the arrow tattoo on Aang’s head. 

“I’m going to go try to sleep again. Night, Zuko.” The younger boy stood up and headed from the room. Zuko sat alone by the embers for another moment before returning to his bed and finally getting some sleep. 

… 

In midwinter in the Northern Water Tribe the sun only rises for a few hours everyday. At this point, Zuko’s circadian rhythm was so beyond messed up. Rising with the sun was no longer an option. When he woke up it was still pitch black outside, and the lack of sunlight was killing his energy, but the entire city was already awake from the sounds of it. 

Zuko pushed himself to a sitting position and created a small flame in his palm. In the dim light he could not make out Sokka in his bed so the other boy must be already up. He rolled to his feet and headed for the kitchen as his stomach rumbled. No one was in the main room, but he wasn’t sure if that meant the others were still asleep, or had already left for training. Zuko missed the sun, he didn’t like never knowing what time of day it was. He was mumbling to himself about the sun while heating left over stew in a bowl between his palms. 

This preoccupation allowed someone else to slip into the room unnoticed. The other presence didn’t make itself known until the door to the ice box closed loudly behind him. Zuko whirled around to see a proffered bowl right in front of his face. 

“Can you do mine too?” Katara asked, looking up at him. 

He froze, just looking at her for a moment. She was wearing her usual blue dress and tight braid with hair loopies. She looked beautiful and Zuko was finally ready to admit it. On the other hand, Zuko was standing there, still in his pajama pants and undershirt, having not so much as run his fingers through his hair yet that morning. He was staring at her, he should probably stop staring and do something or say something. Suddenly his brain did not know how to function. For a moment he was certain he was dying. 

He slowly convinced his body to move again. He put his own bowl down on the counter, then took her bowl from her hands and put it down beside his. She looked at him confused for a moment before he took a large stride towards her and placed a hand on her cheek. Their faces were just inches from each other now. 

“I’m sorry for being so indecisive and weird,” he said. 

“I’m sorry for yelling at you,” she replied. 

Then they both leaned in and this kiss went so much better than the first. Zuko’s free hand moved to her lower back to pull her in closer while both of her arms circled his neck, pulling him down to her level. They stayed like that, kissing in the kitchen, until they were both panting and she pulled back to catch her breath. Zuko couldn’t help the massive grin spreading across his face as he panted and held her. 

The first rays of the day’s sunlight began sparking Zuko’s inner flame as they continued standing there in each other’s arms, gazing into each other’s eyes, and stealing more kisses. They sprang apart at the sound of horns blaring around the city. 

“Is that what I think it is?” Aang yelled in the next room. 

Katara’s face fell as she looked into Zuko’s eyes. The Fire Nation was here. “No way, they’re early and they’re not stupid enough to launch a siege on the North Pole right now. There’s only a few hours of sunlight and it’s a full moon tonight,” he pleaded. 

“It sounds like they are,” she replied. “Go get dressed.” She walked out of the kitchen with a purpose. 

… 

“You can’t wear that, that uniform won’t even get you on their ship.” Zuko told Hahn, the leader of this mission and his least favorite person in the Water Tribe so far. 

“How would you know, ash maker?” Hahn spat back. Zuko chose to ignore the slur. 

“I grew up in the Fire Nation. I happen to know what their uniforms look like. And you know what? I have seen that uniform you’ve got there before, in the military museum. It’s at least eighty years out of date,” Zuko informed him while flicking the gaudy shoulder spikes on his uniform. This uniform really was terribly tacky. The other boy looked like he was about to snarl and Zuko could not figure out his problem. 

“Oh yeah, well how do we know we can even trust you. You’re probably a spy for the invasion. We should have locked you in an ice cave when we had the chance.” Hahn gave him a little shove and Zuko had to take several deep breaths before the smoke in his palms dissipated. 

“Enough Hahn. Prince Zuko has done nothing but help us since his arrival. He is simply trying to advise you on this mission. Would you rather I ask someone else to lead it in your stead while you remember your manners?” Chief Arnook stated from behind Zuko. Zuko could not help the smirk that graced his face as the other boy’s face fell and he apologized to the chief. “Zuko has informed me that the man leading this invasion is named Zhao. Hahn, you will be looking for a middle aged man with what Sokka described as truly terrible sideburns.” The chief allowed himself a smirk. “At any rate, I truly do wish this mission success and hope for your safe return.” The chief swept out of the room. 

“What are you even doing here, ash maker?” Hahn scowled at him. “You’re not coming on this mission.”

“The chief asked me to come and ensure you could pass for Fire Nation soldiers.”

“Well you can leave now.” Hahn shoved him again. “I can’t believe the chief would turn down my request to court Yue for you.”

“Wow, you were supposed to court Yue. Thank Agni I showed up when I did then. She can do way better than you.” Zuko was goading him, but something about this guy bugged him. And the idea of Yue rejecting Sokka because her father had given her to this guy didn’t sit right with him. Zuko gave him a shove right back, flicked the shoulder spikes once more for good measure, and turned away from the other boy. “If you take off the spikes and the plumes on the helmets you might pass for a few minutes on Zhao’s ship. Assuming the sentry isn’t paying too much attention.” He left the room with a self satisfied smirk before the other boy could reply. 

… 

Twilight was only a few hours after the onslaught of fireballs began. Zuko found himself on a balcony of the palace next to Katara, Yue, and Sokka waiting for Aang to return. When he saw Appa approaching a fraction of the tension he’d been feeling all day seeped out of him. 

“They’ve stopped firing,” Yue noticed. 

“The sun’s going down. It would be stupid to challenge a tribe of waterbenders under a full moon,” Zuko informed her and she nodded. 

Aang came floating down near them. “I can’t do it.” Aang repeatedly mumbled to himself. 

Katara was immediately upon him, pulling the boy into a fierce hug. “What happened?” 

“I must have taken out a dozen ships. But there’s just so many. I can’t fight them all by myself.” Aang looked down away from all of them and still was not returning Katara’s hug. 

There was genuine fear in Yue’s eyes. “But you’re the Avatar. You have to.”

Zuko could see the expectations weighing on Aang’s thin frame, threatening to crush him. “He doesn’t have to do anything. He’s just one kid.” Aang looked at Zuko, eyes glistening with tears just waiting to come out. 

Yue was momentarily taken aback before she realized how upset Aang clearly was. She tried to take on a reassuring tone. “It’ll be okay. Let us just hope that the moon spirit brings our warriors enough strength to continue with the progress you made today.” 

“The spirits, that’s a great idea. Maybe I can go talk to them,” Aang chirped excitedly. 

“If you could talk to them then maybe they can give you some wisdom to help win this battle,” Yue replied. 

“Or maybe they can unleash some crazy spirit magic and save the day.” Aang karate chopped the air wildly and Zuko put a hand on his shoulder while giving him an admonishing look. “Or just wisdom. Wisdom would be good too.” He gave Zuko a sheepish smile. 

“But how are you going to get to the spirit world? Last time you went by accident,” Katara pointed out. 

“We’ve been meditating a lot. I think I am more attuned to my spiritual energy now than I was before.”

“I’ve got an idea that might help,” Yue told them. “Follow me.” She led them to a large circular door behind the palace. Zuko could feel warm air on the other side, like the energy was calling to his inner flame. 

“Is this a door to the spirit world?” Aang asked, which made Yue giggle adorably. 

“No, of course not. This door leads to the most spiritual place in the Northern Water Tribe. This is the center of all spiritual energy in our lands,” Yue informed them while opening the door. On the other side it was so warm that everyone immediately discarded their coats. Here there was live grass, trees, and a colorful array of flowers. The air smelled like the forest after a light rain. Something about the space made Zuko feel immediately at peace. The center of the space held a koi pond with two mesmerizing fish swimming in tandem. 

Aang took a deep breath. “You’re right Yue, I think this will help. I can feel something here. It’s tranquil. Like I’ve already been meditating for hours.” Aang moved towards the koi pond and sat before it cross legged. 

Zuko moved to sit beside him. “How are you doing, Aang?” Zuko whispered, only for the airbender’s ears. 

“I’m okay. Today was stressful.” Aang looked longingly at the pond. “I sank some of those ships, Zuko. People were on them. The monks would be ashamed of me.” 

“No they wouldn’t.” Zuko reached for the other boy's chin and moved his face to meet his eyes. “You did what you had to do to protect people. This is war, people get hurt. I’m sure the monks would understand that.”

“I’ve never attacked people like that, though. The monks always taught me to be non aggressive and find other ways to settle differences.” 

“That’s a great ideology to believe in and try to live by. But at times we must all put our ideologies aside. I’m sure the Air Nomads understood that.” 

Aang did not look reassured. “In my lessons with the Order I read a story about Avatar Yangchen, the previous Air Nomad Avatar. During her life the Fire Nation was having a civil war. At one point to bring peace and unite the islands she had to single handedly fight a war lord’s army to prevent him from invading a neighboring island. And that was before she arranged an Agni Kai between the most powerful men in the nation to decide who would be the Fire Lord. She was also raised with the non aggression of the Air Nomads, but she knew when to hold fast to her ideology and when to do whatever it took to protect the world.” 

“But what if my aggression today leads to more aggression from others? The world is in a cycle of violence and I don’t think more violence is how we break it.” Aang returned to gazing at the koi. 

“That may be true. You just need to do what you think is right.” Zuko patted him on the back. “Meditating on it may help.” Aang nodded. 

“Will you stay with me, at least until I cross over to the spirit world?”

“Of course, I’m not going anywhere. I told you, I’m here for you.” Both boys moved into a meditative pose. Zuko conjured a small flame in his palm to meditate on as their breathing evened out. A few minutes later a new light shined through Zuko’s eyelids. He opened one eye a slit and saw that Aang’s arrow tattoo and eyes had begun to glow. He extinguished the flame in his palm and moved to stand with the others near the back of the oasis. 

Yue looked at the airbender with a crease in her brow. “Does the glowing mean he’s in the spirit world?”

“Either the spirit world or the Avatar State. I’m not completely sure if those are the same thing. But nothing is currently on fire so I’m going to assume this isn’t the Avatar State,” Sokka replied. 

“That’s reassuring,” Yue deadpanned. Sokka took her hand and gave her a reassuring smile which made Yue wilt. “Will you accompany me back to the palace? I want to have some of the guards moved to the oasis door.” Sokka nodded. “Will you be alright for a few minutes?” She asked the other two. 

“Of course, we can protect him. We’ll be fine,” Katara replied with a smile. Little did she know, everything would not be fine.

On the lead flagship of the Fire Navy fleet, Admiral Zhao stood on the deck of the ship, smiling at the smoke rising from the shore of Agna Qel’a. Everything was going according to plan. It was almost time for the next phase. 

Long live Zhao the Destroyer of the Moon. 


	12. Azula Interlude II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is both late and short so I'm sorry about that. But it's been a hell of a week for me. And I really like this chapter! Azula is my murder child. This story was not originally supposed to be about her but she keeps popping into my head with new ideas. Apparently childhood trauma comes a lot easier to me than romance.

Zhao’s plan for this invasion was idiotic. There was no discernable reason to attack the Northern Water Tribe stronghold in the middle of winter during a full moon. The days were too short and the nights too cold. It was the plan of a single minded child with no conception of consequences. The benders were exhausting themselves maintaining their internal temperatures with the lack of Agni’s light to recharge them. The Fire Nation had left this tribe alone for nearly a hundred years, Azula did not understand why there was suddenly such a rush to invade. The savages would fall easily in a few months when the midnight sun returned and exhausted their benders. Those same tactics were used to successfully bring their sister tribe to its knees. Zhao insisted he had a plan to counteract the moon’s power, but refused to share said plan which bothered her. Her father’s personal stamp of approval was on his invasion plans, she shouldn’t have been worried. But something still felt wrong. 

That was how she found herself on the eve of the invasion, flanked by Mai and Ty Lee, dressed in all black, sneaking onto Zhao’s flagship in the dead of night. The sentries were a joke and the shadows cast by the long night were more than enough to make it into the belly of the ship unnoticed. She motioned Ty Lee to the small grate above the captain’s quarters door. The acrobat easily flipped into the air while a twitch of Mai’s wrist sent a knife to make quick work of the grate’s locking mechanism. Ty Lee landed elegantly, clinging to a wall sconce, and noiselessly slipped inside the ventilation system. Within a minute, the door to the Admiral’s office clicked open to reveal a smiling Ty Lee. 

“That was so fun!” Ty Lee whispered excitedly. “It’s been so long since I’ve tried to fit into such a tight space.” Ty Lee bent in half to grab her toes and relax the muscles in her lower back and thighs. Azula stared for a moment, amazed by the sight of her bendiness. 

“Come on,” Azula muttered, once she’d torn her eyes away from her elastic friend. “We’re looking for a stack of paper with the Fire Lord’s seal.” The three girls spread out to efficiently search the small space. 

“I think I found it,” Ty Lee chirped a few minutes later from her spot at the end of Zhao’s desk. Azula and Mai came up on her sides. In front of them was a surprisingly thin stack of papers tied with cord and sealed with the unmistakable stamp of her father’s ring. Azula produced a minuscule, precise jet of blue flame from one finger to melt the bottom of the wax seal in order to read the papers within without breaking the seal and revealing their presence. She spread the papers along the desk so that all three girls could see. 

Azula read the first page to find that Zhao’s plan for this invasion was not merely idiotic, it was absurd, innefficient, and wasteful. The amount of supplies, ships, and soldiers he requested to pull off this plan was double what a conquest of this size would usually require. Azula was not a child anymore, she knew that this war was expensive, both in terms of monetary impact and human lives. But the number of lives that would need to be sacrificed to conquer a Water Tribe in the dead of winter was wasteful, as was all the tax money that would be sunk with the ships and equipment that would inevitably be lost to the cold arctic sea. Fire Nation technology was not designed to survive a long siege in this weather. 

To her right, Ty Lee was reading the middle section while Mai had skipped to the last pages of the plan. The oldest girl in their trio audibly gasped which caused Azula to whip her head towards her. Mai’s usually passive mask was still in place, but those who knew her well knew how to read her eyes. Azula had long learned that Mai could not hide her feelings from her eyes. And at this moment, her eyes were locked on the page and filled with fear. She simply pointed to a spot on the page wordlessly. Azula took that to mean she was expected to read the passage herself. She scoffed but leaned in to see what had upset her friend. 

_ The elimination of the moon spirit, being a priority of this campaign, will be completed after sundown on the first day of the siege. The loss of their bending will allow this siege to be short and victorious.  _ Azula read the passage a second time. No one had mentioned eliminating a spirit to her. How would one even eliminate a spirit?

“What does this mean?” Azula asked her companions. “You can’t just eliminate a spirit.”

“Actually,” Ty Lee’s voice had lost it’s usual pep. “According to the pages I was reading, the moon and ocean spirits have decided to take on mortal forms to live amongst their people. Zhao went to some library and learned about them a few years back. They’re fish living in the center of the tribe in an oasis.” 

“How would Zhao even get to the center of the tribe?” 

“I read that the siege is meant to cause enough of a distraction to walk through large portions of the city unnoticed. And there’s some underground tunnels.” Mai’s monotone was more shaky than usual as she began flipping through the pages to find the reference to the tunnels. 

“What are we going to do?” Ty Lee asked. “We can’t just let them kill the moon. They’d be unleashing some very vengeful spirits on the Fire Nation, not to mention we need the moon. What about tides? The Fire Nation is a bunch of islands, we need tides!” 

“My father approved this plan,” Azula said in something resembling shock. Father was always right. But this couldn’t be right. The Fire Lord was ruthless, but he was not stupid. This plan was stupid and violent and  _ wasteful _ . 

“I know, but it’s still wrong Azula,” Ty Lee declared. 

“My father is never wrong.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “Zhao must have forged his seal.” That must be it. Her father could not have seen this plan. That must be why Zhao had refrained from filling her in. If her father had seen this plan, then Zhao would have given her the details. 

“Maybe he did,” Mai said with a look in her eyes that Azula did not try to decipher, but an observer might have called skepticism. “What do you want to do Azula?” 

“The objective of this invasion is to obtain and control the Avatar,” Azula stated. “I’ll simply grab the Avatar myself before Zhao can execute this plan and then the invasion will be over.” 

“Okay.” Both girls nodded. Azula began collecting the papers and preparing to reseal them. Erasing their presence. 

They had one day to come up with a plan to capture the Avatar before Zhao could do anything stupid. Once back on their ship, the three girls all spread out on Azula’s bed with a detailed map of the Northern Water Tribe they’d grabbed from Zhao’s office and a few assorted scrolls. It was going to be a long night. 

…

Azula had always been a strong swimmer. In the summers, before mother left, Zuko died and father began insisting that she train every moment of the day, Azula would spend the entire summer on the beach at Ember Island. The last summer they were all there together, Zuko had helped her swim out to a small rock cluster that was barely visible from the beach. It was further than a six year old should have been able to go alone, but she was a strong swimmer and Zuko tugged her along and kept her head above the water. There had been nothing remarkable about the rock cluster but there was a certain satisfaction to having gotten there. Azula swam harder after that, determined that she’d be able to make it there on her own by the next summer. But that was the last summer they’d all been together and she’d still never attempted the swim again but she was confident that she could do it now. 

All this to say that the swimming portion of getting into the Northern Water Tribe was not an issue. The issue was the cold. The water was freezing around her. If it had not been for the careful energy she was putting into her inner flame, she would be long dead by now. Having both her companions be non benders had never been a consideration or a problem, they were capable and loyal so why would bending matter? But at this moment she wished her friends were firebenders because neither girl could accompany her on this mission without freezing to death which left her all alone. She came up for air in a turtle-seal cavern and laid on her side panting fire in an attempt to get warm. The animals were making a horrible noise and she shot a blue flame over their heads to shut them up. The cavern quickly cleared of the offending animals. 

The next time she surfaced was in a tunnel that the map indicated would lead her straight to the spirit’s oasis. She thought that was as good a place as any to start looking for the Avatar on such a short timeline. She entered the oasis in a thicket of trees and quickly made out two voices. She decided to wait and listen to see if she could glean any important information while hidden in the shadows before attacking. 

“How are you feeling?” An oddly familiar male voice asked but Azula could not place it.

“I don’t know. Today’s been a rollercoaster,” a female voice responded. “We should probably talk, at some point.”

“Yeah, we don’t have to right now if it’s too much. We can talk once all this is over.” Azula could not see the couple but could feel the awkwardness in their voices. She cringed from the second hand embarrassment of what must be a very personal conversation. 

“Later would be good,” the girl said. Then quickly hurried to add. “Not that there’s anything bad to talk about. This morning was good! It’s just a lot to process right now.”

“No, I get it. There’s been a lot of emotional whiplash the last couple days. I’m sorry about that.” 

“There’s nothing to be sorry about, you were confused. I shouldn’t have been pressuring you.” The awkwardness was starting to bleed out of both voices. 

“It’s okay. I had been sending mixed signals, you were right.” The girl giggled. It was a light, pleasant sound. 

The girl began in a playful tone. “Well this morning was a pretty clear signal, Zuko.” There was a sound that may have been a kiss but Azula could no longer hear anything around her. That name had sent her thoughts into overdrive. It couldn’t be. 

She suddenly felt the need to move. To confront the couple and see their faces. Her feet acted without her telling them to. She broke through the tree line a moment later and froze. A few yards away sat the Avatar, she could tell from the glowing light emanating from him. Behind him stood the couple, still caught up in their kiss. What Azula could see of the man is what froze her to the spot. The shaggy dark hair was the same color as her perfectly done top knot. Their pale skin was the same as well. The profile looked like a younger version of her father. Suddenly Azula’s entire world felt like it was coming apart at the seams. 

“Zuzu?” Azula said. The sound was weak even to her own ears. She did not recognize the sound of her own voice. 

The couple broke apart and turned to her. Then she was sure. Standing in front of her was her father’s face with her mother’s eyes. She saw confusion on his face and then he broke into a wide smile. “Lala? Is that really you?” He began moving towards her quickly while she was still frozen to the spot. When he reached her he put both his hands on her shoulders and looked her over. “Look at you, you’ve gotten so big! I’ve missed you so much. I’m so glad you found me.” He pulled her into his arms and the hug finally broke her shock. 

“You’re not dead. You’re alive,” she whispered. 

“Of course I’m alive. I know he told the world I was dead. I didn’t realize he’d lied to you too. I’m so sorry Azula.” He still had his arms wrapped around her. 

“You’re alive, and you left me. Just like mom.” He stepped back so that their only contact was his hands on her shoulders as smoke began to pour from her clenched fists. 

“I never wanted to leave you, Lala. I tried to go back and take you with me but the people who took me away wouldn’t let me. I thought about you all the time. I even wrote you letters when I did or saw something I wanted to tell you about. But I could never send them.”

It was all too much. He was too much. This was impossible. She needed to get away from this place. There was a flash of blue as her inner fire reacted to her turmoil in order to get him off her and she took off down the tunnel from which she came. She could hear the splash of footsteps behind her in the shallow water of the tunnel but did not turn to identify her pursuer. When the tunnel ended, she entered the city of ice and kept running. Her pursuer did not stop either. 

“Lala! Wait! Talk to me!” The voice was deeper and raspier than she remembered her brother’s being but there was still a familiar quality to it. She kept running. 

Above her the moon turned red. The sound of running behind her had faded and she stood for a moment on one of the bridges over a canal gazing at the bloody moon. In her panic she’d forgotten about Zhao. In front of her on the other side of the bridge stood her brother. He’d clearly ceased following her and gone around to cut her off. He too had stopped in his pursuit to stare at the sky. 

A moment later a giant koi shaped monster appeared, glowing blue, standing tall above the buildings of the tribe. Azula stood, frozen to the spot and gawked at the creature as it began tearing its way through the city. The monster was sweeping away anyone in Fire Nation armour. She stood tall and proud, preparing herself for her fate. Before the monster got to her, a hand grabbed the back of her neck and forced her down into an approximation of a kowtow. She turned her head to see her brother, holding her neck and covering her body with his own. The monster swept past the two of them and continued his rampage of the city. 

“You saved my life,” Azula murmured once he’d released her. 

“Lala-”

“Why would you do that?” She cut him off. 

He looked at her with confusion written plain across his face. Apparently the years had not made him any harder to read. “I love you, Lala.” He said it so earnestly like it answered her question. Those words had never answered her questions. “I never stopped loving you.” She backed away from him. The moon turned white once more above them. She turned to run away again. “Find me when you’re ready to talk. I want to be there for you, Azula.” This time when she sped away his words were the only thing to follow her. 

… 

Mai and Ty Lee were waiting for her at their designated rendez vous point with a small boat, just as they’d promised. She knew she could count on them. Azula appeared sans Avatar, having failed in her task. 

“Azula, are you okay?” Mai asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Azula began laughing uncontrollably. Mai had no idea how right she was. 

“Azula,” Ty Lee said as she approached cautiously, as if Azula was a wild animal. “What’s wrong?” She tentatively placed a hand on Azula’s shoulder. “Talk to us. The maniacal laughter is a little scary.”

Azula gained control of herself. She was good at control. She took a deep breath as she boarded the small boat. Her two friends got in as well and they pushed off. “I did see a ghost of sorts.” Azula started. The two girls gave her questioning looks. “My brother was there. He’s not dead. He was with the Avatar. He said-” she struggled to breath. “He said that my father lied when he declared Zuko dead.” Azula began laughing again, this time neither girl tried to stop her. “He said he still loves me.” Her voice was quiet and weak again. The laughter had morphed as well. There was an unfamiliar wet sensation on her cheeks. 

Ty Lee turned to her and wiped the tears from her cheeks. The acrobat gave her a weak smile and pulled her into a warm hug. Azula let herself collapse against the other girl's chest. The moment felt weak, no one had comforted her when Zuko had died, why should she accept comfort now that he’s alive. But she couldn’t force herself to reject the embrace. 

Mai and Ty Lee escorted Azula back to her chambers on the ship. Once inside they did not bid her goodnight as was customary. They stayed as Azula began preparing for bed. Mai left for a moment and returned with pajamas for them both. Without asking, both girls changed for bed and crawled onto Azula’s large mattress beside her. She should have been livid, she was a princess, no one should feel entitled to share her bed without asking. But as Ty Lee’s warm arm draped across Azula’s stomach and her head came to rest on her shoulder, Azula could not find it in herself to be mad or send them away. The presence reminded her of those nights after a punishment where she would not have slept if not for Zuko’s warm presence beside her. She quickly fell into a deep and dreamless sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I firmly believe that the Fire Nation royal children's first coping mechanism is a big old nope. 
> 
> Thank you all for all the kudos, comments, subscriptions, love, and support. After the week I just had it was really your encouragement that got me to finally get something out for this story. <3


	13. Sokka Interlude I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last part of this chapter was originally supposed to be tacked onto the last chapter. But then I had a shower revelation about Sokka and Yue's relationship and now there's this monster. Enjoy! 
> 
> The Northern Water Tribe arc really got away from me. I just kept having ideas and suddenly it went from a three part chapter with an interlude to this. But I believe next chapter should be the end of it.

The Northern Water Tribe was huge, and beautiful, and more than he’d ever thought a place could be on an uninhabitable chunk of ice. Sokka had never seen the Southern Water Tribe as more than a handful of tents and igloos struggling to survive the winter. There’d been stories of a thriving community before the war but they seemed like little more than spirit tales to him. He thought that that was just how you had to live in order to stay on the ice. But here, in the north, they had an entire city with infrastructure. People here could focus on building beautiful things instead of just surviving. The sight as he flew into the city on Appa was overwhelming. 

He was trying to take it all in. His mind immediately began to whirl with ideas for how he could bring some of this grandeur home with him. He was mentally drawing up plans for his tribe’s rebuilding when he saw  _ her _ . He’d never seen anyone like her and he was mesmerized. Her white hair was out of place on such a young woman but looked perfectly natural on her and she held herself with so much poise and confidence. Sokka kept his eyes on her until her boat turned away then he just stared at the point where she’d disappeared until Aang said something to break him out of his reverie. 

Sokka knew he should have been paying attention during the ensuing meeting with the chief. His best friend’s life was probably at risk (not like that’s anything new) and he knows better than to disrespect his elders. But she was sitting right there. It was like she was a magnet and his eyes were a piece of iron. She exuded a quiet, confident, regal energy. And it seemed like Aang was handling the talking portion of the meeting just fine on his own. Sokka was so preoccupied staring at the princess that he didn’t even realize how incredibly creepy it would seem if she noticed. 

By the time the four of them had been brought to the guest house they’d be staying in, Sokka was already mentally composing poetry about her beauty. He tried a few of them out on Zuko while he helped him get ready. Listening to his poetry was a fitting payment for the other boy being unable to figure out how a parka works on his own. At least his friend would never threaten Sokka’s position as the plan guy of this group. 

He could not believe his luck when he was sat next to the princess at the feast. Some spirit somewhere was smiling down on him for once. 

“Hi, I don’t think we've been properly introduced. I’m Sokka,” he said once they’d both settled in their seats. 

She smiled at him, and oh spirits he wanted to see that smile again and again. “I’m Yue.” She extended her hand to him and he grasped her forearm in the traditional Water Tribe greeting. She looked at him shocked for a moment and then smiled again. “That’s a warrior's greeting.” 

“Yeah.” He quickly released her elbow as he felt a blush begin. “In the south we use it for anyone we respect, sorry if it’s not like that here.” 

“It’s alright. People don’t usually afford me that kind of respect, so I was just a little confused.” 

“Why wouldn’t they respect you? You’re the princess.” He gave her a questioning look. 

“They respect me, just not like that. Not like a warrior.” She smiled again. “I have a feeling you don’t care much for the small nuances of these kinds of things.” 

He laughed. “Not really, no. In the south respect is just respect. Everyone is too busy working for the tribe to get caught up on treating people differently.” 

“Sounds nice.” There was a wistful note to her voice. 

“It is. I miss it a lot. It’s not an easy life, but once the war is over we’ll be able to build something real. Like what you guys have here. I have a lot of ideas. Hopefully by the time I become chief we’ll have a central city for all the villages and won’t be so fragmented anymore.” 

“I hope you can do that, Sokka.” He could get lost in that smile. It hadn’t left her face the whole time he was talking. He’d never stop talking if she kept smiling at him like that. The conversation between them was easy. He made her laugh. And she just kept smiling at him. While they ate he told her stories about the south and she explained the setup of the north. 

Once they’d both eaten their fill he was worried she’d get up and leave. He wasn’t ready for their time together to be over. He noticed people were beginning to dance. The steps seemed similar to the large tribal dances they did at home for feast days. 

“Would you like to dance?” He asked her. She smiled at him again and the effect that was starting to have on him felt similar to having one too many glasses of ice wine. The two of them danced together until Katara came and dragged him away, claiming it was late and she was tired. Sokka fell asleep with a massive smile on his face. That night he dreamed of the moon. 

… 

He couldn’t wait to see her again. The next day he left the guest house to try and find her. As he wandered the city, he admired the buildings and canals up close. Everything here felt so foreign. He’d expected arriving at the Northern Water Tribe to feel like coming home but this place was so different from his home. The people might have looked similar, and the temperature might have felt similar, the food might have tasted similar, but this place was not home. Though he still found comfort in the small familiarities. He caught sight of her in a gondola gliding along the water of the main canal.

“Hey!” He exclaimed to get her attention. She turned to him and smiled brightly. 

“Hello,” she replied. He walked along the sidewalk, keeping time with her gondola. 

“That was really fun last night.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”

“Well, it wouldn’t have been much fun without you.” Was that smooth? Was he being smooth? He mentally high fived himself as she blushed slightly. “So, I was hoping we could see more of each other. Maybe do an activity?” He rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Do an… activity.” She smiled at him again and giggled. “I’d love to.”

“Great! Is there a time that works for you?”

“Meet me at that bridge at sunset.” She pointed at a bridge they’d just passed. Sokka could not stop the smile spreading across his face. He didn’t even notice the sidewalk ending in front of him. He stepped off the end of the road and into the water. As he resurfaced he could hear her perfect laugh in the distance. 

“Worth it!” He called out. 

Katara helped him do his hair for his date like the amazing little sister he begrudgingly admitted she was. As she gently cleaned up the fade on his undercut, he listened to her bemoan the sexist policies that were preventing her from learning combat bending. He could understand the policies, up until Kyoshi Island he might have even agreed with them. But now his little sister was upset and it was his job to help fix it. 

“I guess this policy isn’t too surprising,” he told her. “The elders said our tribe had much stricter gender roles back in the day.”

“Don’t forget, I’m literally holding a razor to your head,” she replied in a tone that was not terribly comforting. He raised his hands in surrender. 

“I’m not saying I agree with it, just that I’m not surprised.” He sighed. “But you’re right. Women should be able to fight if they want. I’ll always support you, however you want to handle this.”

“Wow, did you just say I’m right about something?” She laughed and he scowled. “Thank you, Sokka. I’m not sure what to do yet, but if you have any ideas I’m all ears.” He promised to think about it as she finished up and informed him that he was date ready. 

The cold, polar air helped him clear his mind as he walked to the bridge. He nervously fiddled with the salmon-trout he’d carved for her. Suddenly he was very nervous to give it to her. He silently cursed Zuko for saying it looked like a disfigured platypus-bear. It didn’t look that bad. If you squinted you could definitely tell what it was meant to be. Small carvings were traditional courtship gifts in his tribe. He just wanted to be able to give her something to show his intentions. He took a deep breath, it would be okay. It would be better than okay. It was going to be great. He was about to go on a date… his first date. He was freaking out. 

Yue was already standing on the bridge when he arrived. The golden light of the sunset haloed around her and made her look like a spirit. The sight took his breath away. 

“Hello,” she called with a wide smile as he approached. 

“Hi, Princess Yue.” He took a breath to steel himself. “I made you something.” He handed her the salmon-trout as he blushed deeply. 

“Oh! It’s a bear of some sort?” She said as she examined the carving. 

“No, it’s a fish,” he corrected. He reached out and turned the carving right side up in her hand. The moment of contact between their hands sent a shock of electricity through his body. 

“I see,” she said with a placating smile. “I love it. Thank you.” She tucked the fish into her parka pocket. “What sort of activity are we doing tonight?” 

“I was thinking we could walk for a while. I haven’t seen too much of the tribe yet. And if you don’t have to be home, my sister is making our Gran Gran’s seal blubber stew recipe for dinner. If you’d like to join us?” 

“That sounds lovely. I’d be happy to show you around.” He offered her his arm. When she took it they began to walk off the bridge together. “I’ve never had a stew made of seal blubber. Here we usually use the blubber for jerky or turn it into candles.” 

“We do the same in the south. But my Gran Gran found that it melts in a stew to make it heartier and she usually threw a few salted fish in there, too. You’ll just have to taste it and see.”

“I can’t wait.” She giggled. “How are you liking the north so far?” 

“It’s beautiful! And huge. I love it.” He smiled at her. “If the waterbending master hadn’t thoroughly pissed off my sister, this place would be absolutely perfect.”

She furrowed her brow at him. “What happened with your sister?”

“Oh, it’s not a big deal.” He sighed. His big mouth had upset her. “Katara was just the only bender in the South Pole. She’d always dreamed of travelling here to train, but now that she’s here they won’t let her do anything but heal. I know it’s your tribe’s customs. She is just upset. We came a long way.” 

“She is right to be upset, the rules here can be a bit harsh for women.” A fiery look crossed her eyes. He liked the intensity she was displaying.

“What do you mean?”

“Women here are meant to be seen and not heard. It can be… difficult.” She took a deep breath. He patted her hand that was on his arm. 

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. I am afforded more freedoms than most, as the princess. I just wish I could do more for the women of my tribe. I love my people and want to always do my duty for them.” 

“You should talk to Katara. Maybe you could help each other out.” He was going to regret suggesting that later when his sister would be telling Yue a story of when Sokka stole one of Katara’s dresses and tried it on. He had just wanted to know what he’d look like as a girl, was that a crime? The answer had been a lot like Katara. 

Walking and talking with Yue was easy. She laughed at his jokes and showed him all her favorite spots in the city. He was fascinated by the way she spoke of her passions, she loved reading, writing, and tending to her ice garden. They discussed some spirit tales they’d both read over the years. He shared that he had been enjoying poetry a lot during their travels and she seemed genuinely excited to share some of her favorite poems with him. By the time the two of them approached the guest house for dinner he was beyond smitten. 

The only thing that could possibly make Yue seem more perfect was seeing how well she got along with Katara. The two of them were immediately thick as thieves as they plotted to overthrow the patriarchy. He pretended to be annoyed about it for big brother pretense, but secretly loved seeing his little sister and the girl of his dreams making friends. 

At the end of the night, he walked her home. It was so cold he could see his breath in the air but her arm entwined in his was warm. When he bid her goodnight at the entrance to the chief’s residence she gave him a kiss on the cheek before darting inside. The cold seemed irrelevant on the walk home and his smile didn’t leave his face for the rest of the night. 

… 

The first time they spent the night together was in an ice cave that Yue showed him. They both fell asleep accidentally in each other’s arms. When they woke up, Sokka was terrified that she’d get in trouble but she just gave him that smile again and told him it would be okay. After that she began sneaking him into the palace a few nights a week. Getting to hold her at night felt so good that he didn’t even acknowledge Zuko’s snickers about having his own room in the morning. 

One night while they were cuddled in her bed, Sokka was absent mindedly running his fingers through her snow white hair while he drifted in that space between awake and asleep where everything is at peace. 

“I’ve never felt freedom like this,” Yue whispered against his chest. 

“What do you mean?” 

“When I’m with you, I feel free. I get to make my own choices. You never pretend to know what’s best for me or try to tell me what to do. I just wanted to thank you for that.” She burrowed further into him and he instinctively held her tighter. 

“Of course, Yue. You should always feel free to do what’s best for yourself.” He moved slightly so he could look at her face. “I promise you that I will never knowingly make you feel powerless.”

Her eyes glistened in contrast to the soft smile on her lips. “I know you’d never do that to me, Sokka.” She leaned up to give him a soft kiss. “I love my father, and my people. I’ve always wanted to do my duty for the tribe. But I thought until you and your friends arrived that doing my duty meant sacrificing my happiness.” A single tear slipped down her cheek but she was still smiling brightly at him. “If Zuko can pretend to be considering me until Hahn finds another girl then I could truly be free to make my own choice.”

“If you told him that I’m sure he’d be happy to wait as long as needed.” Sokka mentally determined that he’d bully his friend until he agreed if necessary. 

“Thank you, Sokka. Thank you for everything.” She smiled at him and then buried herself against his chest in a tight hug. 

“I love you, Yue.” Sokka’s eyes widened in shock. He had no idea where those words came from. Sure, that was most definitely how he felt. And he’d thought it more than once. But no conscious effort went into the vocalisation of that feeling. 

Yue pulled back from the hug to look him in the eye, mouth agape. “Really?”

Fuck it, Sokka thought, I said it and I meant it. “Yes really. You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever met and I love you.” Her smile was so bright, Sokka would have gladly been blinded by it. 

“I love you too.” She kissed him and he’d never felt so content in his life. 

… 

The morning of the invasion, Chief Arnook asked to see him after he addressed all of the warriors. Sokka was initially nervous. He hadn’t had too many one on one interactions with the chief. The older man had treated Sokka as a representative of their sister tribe and given him the necessary respect. He’d even gone so far as to invite Sokka to war council meetings, but Sokka had suspected this had been because the chief didn’t want to be rude by inviting Zuko and not Sokka. 

After the speech was over, Sokka approached the chief. “Sokka, thank you for speaking with me. I’ll make this brief,” the chief said while Sokka bowed his head in respect. “I know you and my daughter have become… fond of each other.” The blush on Sokka’s face was immediate and violent. “And you are a very capable warrior and strategist. So I was hoping you could do me the favor of protecting Yue through the siege. Most of her usual guards will be called to the battle and I would feel better knowing that someone was with her who was capable and cared for her.” 

“I would be honored,” Sokka said, trying to sound confident. The chief grinned at him which softened the older man’s features and caused him to look much more like his daughter. 

“Thank you, son. May Tui and La bless you in this endeavor.” The chief awkwardly patted Sokka’s shoulder before striding away to the next piece of business. 

… 

There are a lot of things that Sokka wishes he’d known at the beginning of that day by the end. But now he mostly wishes that he’d known as he walked out of the spirit oasis hand in hand with Yue that this would be the last time they’d be alone like this. He would have walked slower and savored the moment more. He wishes he’d stopped them as they’d hurried back to the palace and pulled her into a kiss just to hold her a little while longer. 

But instead they hurried to the palace. Yue quickly found the guards and asked for some to be moved to the entrance of the oasis. Then they hurried back. 

“How do you know so much about the spiritual energy of the oasis?” Sokka asked as they walked back. 

“The spirits favor the oasis to help our people. I was a very sick child. I couldn’t even open my eyes when I was born. The healers did not think I would survive, but my parents never gave up on me. They took me to the oasis and put me in the water as they prayed to Tui and La. My mother told me the water began to glow as my hair turned white and then my eyes popped open and I began to cry for the first time.” She smiled at him. “I owe Tui my life.”

As they reentered the oasis, Sokka could immediately tell that something had happened while they were gone. His sister was standing blank faced staring into some trees and Zuko was nowhere to be seen. “What happened? Where’s Zuko?” He asked Katara as he approached her. 

She looked at him with wide eyes. “Zuko and I were just talking when a girl appeared out of nowhere. She looked at him like she knew him and even called him some sort of nickname! And- and he’s  _ gone  _ because they were talking and then she shot  _ fire  _ at him and I don’t know where they went!” Katara looked like she was about to cry, and Sokka’s big brother instincts screamed at him to hold her close and make sure that she was okay, but if this girl was a firebender inside the Spirit Oasis, then they had bigger problems on their hands.

“ A firebender got in here? What did she want? Could you tell who she was?” Sokka asked hurriedly. 

“He called her Lala. I think-” Katara looked up at him suddenly, thunderstruck. “Sokka, I think she’s his sister!” 

“That would make sense. I’m pretty sure the princess of the Fire Nation’s name is Azula.” 

Suddenly Katara looked very small. “She looked young. Younger than me. But what would she be doing here? Who would send a fourteen year old on a siege?”

“Probably the same guy who would try to kill a twelve year old in a fire duel for speaking out.” Sokka mused. 

“Fair point,” she agreed. “Do you think he’s okay? Should I go after him?”

“No, he’ll be fine. She’s his sister, he should handle this on his own. Plus, protecting Aang is the priority right now. I’m more worried about how a firebender could appear in here out of nowhere.” He looked over to Yue. “Are there any other ways in here than the door?” 

She thought about it for a moment before replying. “I think someone could technically swim in through the drainage tunnels, but they’d have to go through freezing water.” 

He shared a look with his sister. “Fucking hell, any chance that temperature regulation trick is genetic and they’re the only ones who can do it?” 

Katara laughed for a second, a short, hysterical sound that would worry Sokka in any other circumstance.. “I highly doubt it.” As if to punctuate her point, he began to hear a series of splashing footsteps coming from behind the trees. Sokka grabbed his boomerang and took up a fighting stance in front of Yue. Katara dropped into a bending pose in front of Aang. 

A moment later Admiral Mutton Chops himself emerged from the tree line. “Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Zhao said, taking a casual step closer. “This is almost too perfect. The Avatar and the moon spirit in one spot. The only thing that could make this better is if I could take care of that traitor prince at the same time.” The smirk on his face was unsettling. 

“Don’t take another step,” Sokka threatened. The threat only made Zhao smirk wider. 

“Or what?” Zhao said, while taking yet another step. “What is the Avatar’s pet nonbender savage going to do about it?” Sokka had to take several deep breaths to not let the anger get the best of him. “I think I’ll kill you last so you can watch how truly insignificant and powerless you are.”

At that comment Sokka let loose his boomerang. The curved metal went right past Zhao’s head and the firebender laughed. But before he could run his mouth about Sokka’s lack of aim, Boomerang came back and hit him squarely in the back of the head. Sokka smirked at the indignant look on his face and the disorienting concussion he was sure to have. 

“Neat trick for a barbarian,” Zhao hissed. “I take it back, I think I’ll kill you first.” Zhao threw a fire ball right at Sokka’s chest. For a split second he was sure he was a goner. But then there was a hiss of steam a few feet in front of him and he looked over to see Katara in the end pose of a bending move. 

Sokka grabbed the bone club from his belt ready to engage in battle. He quickly realized that all five men who had entered the clearing were firebenders. They would have to be in order to have made the swim in here. He sent a quick prayer to Tui and La, because he and Katara were seriously outnumbered. 

Fortunately, at that moment the glowing behind his back stopped. “You guys we need to protect the spirits!” Aang called as he got up quickly. Once he’d turned to face them his face fell. “Oh no.”

“Welcome back, Avatar,” Zhao called. 

“It’s good to be back.” Aang narrowed his eyes and dropped into a bending stance. 

The ensuing fight was a bit of a blur. There was fire everywhere. Sokka did his best and took down one of the firebenders by getting in close enough that he could not bend, then knocking him out with the bone club. Before long, four of the five invading firebenders were unconscious or worse on the ground. Katara had clearly taken on two of them with her bending and Aang had blasted one against a tree so hard that he’d slumped over and not gotten up. 

The only man left standing was Zhao who looked at them with murder in his eyes. The admiral was clearly cornered and out of witty one liners. “Surrender now, Zhao,” Aang called to him. 

Zhao’s eyes narrowed. “Never.” He shot a huge blast of fire that caused all three fighters to jump back and cover their faces. Once they’d recovered, Zhao had run to the edge of the Koi pond. 

“What are you doing?” Sokka asked him. He had gone the wrong way to retreat. Why create a cover like that not to run away?

Zhao did not reply. He simply grabbed a bag from his belt and reached down into the pond. Scooping out one of the two fish there. The moon overhead turned blood red. The water that had been in Katara’s grasp fell uselessly to the grass. 

“No stop!” Yue yelled. She’d stayed close to the pond throughout the fight so was the closest to him now. 

“I am supposed to become a legend tonight. For generations, the Fire Nation will tell stories of me. Zhao who bloodied the moon. Zhao the conqueror. Zhao the moon slayer. Zhao the invincible. You children can not stop me,” Zhao thundered, his eyes wild, reflecting the crimson red of the moon. . 

“You don’t want to do this Zhao,” Aang said in the same calm tone one uses on a wild animal. “Destroying the moon won’t just hurt the Water Tribes. It will hurt everyone. Including you. Killing the moon would throw everything out of balance. You’d throw the world into chaos.” 

“I do want to do this, Avatar.” He lit a fire in his palm, directly below the bag containing the fish. 

Aang and Yue exchanged a knowing look as Aang dashed towards the water. Once he reached the water line he immediately disappeared, as if he’d dissolved into the pond. The entire oasis was bathed in a blinding blue light as the water grew out of the pond and took shape into a giant, koi-like creature. 

Sokka could not move. Later, it would be his biggest regret that he stood there, unable to stop anything that happened. 

At the same moment, Yue dashed forward until she was right in front of Zhao. By the time Sokka had gathered his wits enough to look back at them, Zhao had dropped the bag on the ground and stood with a shocked look on his face. Yue pulled her hands back, burns covering her arms, and Sokka could see the small blade poking out of her sleeve, dripping red. She dropped the knife and rushed to return the fish to the pond as Zhao crumpled to his knees. 

The giant koi monster reached down and picked up Zhao’s blood soaked body before turning from the oasis and into the city. As the monster exited the oasis, the bright blue light faded and was replaced with blinding white. A thick mist appeared to descend over the oasis. The light seemed to get even brighter around Yue. 

A smooth female voice appeared to come out of the mist. “Thank you, my child. You have done me a great service tonight. I hate to ask more of you, but I must. I believe it is time.” 

“I know.” Yue’s voice was small but strong. She began walking closer to the edge of the water. 

Sokka ran to her. He’d just seen Aang disappear into that water and did not want Yue getting close to that spirit madness. He grabbed her arm right before her toes dipped below the water line. She turned to him. 

“It’s alright, Sokka,” she said to him with a smile. “Tui gave me life, and now she is hurt. I must take care of her.” No. This wasn’t happening. Sokka would not let this happen. He shook his head frantically as his heart sank with every word that Yue said. She continued, serenely. “I’ve always been destined to assist the moon spirit in her duties.” 

“No, you don’t have to do that. She can heal on her own,” Sokka pleaded. 

“I know I don’t have to. It’s my choice, Sokka.”

“I promised your father I would protect you.” She took his hands in hers and held them tight while meeting his eyes. 

“And you promised me that you would never deny me my freedom.” She smiled at him. “I have to do this.” She leaned up on her tiptoes and gave him a tender kiss. “I love you, and I’ll always be with you. Goodbye, Sokka.”

“I love you, too.” A single tear rolled down his cheek as she released his hands and took a step into the water. Her body disappeared into the water and the mist lifted around them. The moon above them faded from red back to white. 

Sokka collapsed to his knees and stared up at the moon. The image blurred as tears clouded his eyes. How dare the moon be so beautiful, so clear and bright in the inky night sky, when Yue was gone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for all your comments/kudos/love! You feed the creativity monster. 
> 
> Just in case it was a bit confusing the way I imagined that interaction between Yue and Aang went was Aang being like I'mma make a distraction with his eyes and just mentally begging Yue to tackle Zhao or do something. But Yue looking back and being like I got a knife no worries with her eyes.


	14. The Northern Water Tribe: Finale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fam, we finally did it. Here is the end of the Northern Water Tribe arc. This whole arc took so much longer than I expected but all of these characters were speaking to me. I hope you enjoyed it. This chapter is a bit shorter and slower than most. Our faves have been through a lot recently and they need to process.

The morning after the siege, Zuko and Sokka were wrapped in thick furs clutching warm cups of tea in the main room of their guest house. 

“You okay, buddy?”

“No. You?”

“No.” They sat there in silence. 

Aang came into the room, peeled up one corner of Zuko’s blanket cocoon, crawled under it, and cuddled right up to the personal space heater that was Zuko. 

“You okay, Aang?

“No.” Continued silence. 

Katara found them all there sometime later. She mentally cursed because she had to deal with them all herself. 

“So I think it’s time we move on from the North Pole,” she stated. The three boys nodded their agreement. “I’m going to go talk to Master Pakku, and make arrangements for supplies. Will you all be okay here for a few hours?” They nodded again. She got up, refilled each of their tea cups, put out some jerky and dried fruit for them to snack on, and left. 

The silence settled back over the boys. None of them touched the food. They stayed like this for a long time. No one wanted to break the silence. Each of them wallowing in their own sadness. 

“I killed all those people,” Aang bemoaned, finally filling the silent air around them. 

“No, that was La,” Zuko told him. “I was there.”

“But I let him. I willingly bonded with him and didn’t try to stop his rampage.”

“This is war Aang, you saved the tribe,” Sokka insisted. 

“It feels like I betrayed everything the monks taught me.” Zuko wrapped an arm around the boy and squeezed. Aang melted into the comfort. “I know in war people die, it just feels wrong.” He sighed. “Okay, your turn. What’s wrong?”

Sokka and Zuko exchanged a look to decide who would go first. Zuko lost their silent staring contest. “My little sister thinks I abandoned her. She looked like she’d seen a ghost. She didn’t believe that I still love her, or maybe ever loved her. She just looked so hurt and scared. I failed her.” Zuko hung his head. 

“If you hadn’t left you would have been killed or at least seriously injured. She’ll come around,” Aang told him. 

“I don’t know. I should have fought for her more. I wouldn’t forgive me either.” He looked up at Sokka. “Your turn.” 

“Yue turned into the moon.” 

“That’s rough, buddy,” Zuko said as he lifted his free arm and wrapped it around Sokka, enveloping him into the comfort cocoon as well. 

“Everything hurts. How do I just keep going?” Sokka pleaded. 

“I know it hurts right now, but it will get easier,” Aang stated. “You just have to keep forcing one foot in front of the other until it doesn’t feel forced anymore.” Aang patted Sokka’s knee. “And remember that Yue will always be with you and wants you to be happy.” They lapsed back into silence and remained in their comfort cocoon cuddle. 

… 

When Katara got home that afternoon she managed to untangle all three boys from their pile and force them to get ready to go talk to the chief’s council. She was honestly very proud of her boy wrangling skills. The council wanted to discuss their next moves with them before they left so the sooner she got the boys up and over there the sooner they could pack up Appa and hopefully put some distance between themselves and all the trauma of the last day. 

As they made their way from their guest house to the chief’s residence, Katara walked next to Zuko, a few feet behind the others. “I have something to show you,” she said as she pulled the white lotus tile out of her sleeve. 

He gave her a confused look. “Where did you get that?” He asked as the ghost of a smile appeared on his lips. “Yagoda or Pakku?” 

“Pakku,” she stated proudly. “That’s where I was for most of the day. He was initiating me.” 

He pulled out his own tile and tapped it against hers. “Well welcome to the club! This is going to make the meetings way more fun.” She beamed at him. “Let me know if you need help. I forgot at least half of the codes I learned in my initiation and Lana had to make me flash cards.”

As they entered the chief’s residence, they were ushered directly into the council chamber. Arnook sat in his usual seat in the center of the dais, surrounded by his council, his eyes were puffy and bloodshot and he appeared as if he hadn’t slept in days. Yue’s usual place beside him sat empty. 

“Thank you for coming. I understand that you wish to leave the North Pole. We hope to assist you in your journey. What is your plan for finishing the Avatar’s waterbending training?” Arnook sounded mechanical. It was as if he knew he had to be here but his heart was not in it. 

Master Pakku cleared his throat. “In my opinion, Master Katara is more than capable of finishing the Avatar’s training herself.” 

Sokka, Zuko, and Aang’s heads snapped to Katara. The knowing smile on her face was blinding. The three boys smiled back and congratulated her. 

“That sounds reasonable.” Arnook seemed unphased by the development of the first female waterbending master in tribe history. “Our men can escort you to the Central Earth Kingdom. We have contact with a General Fong who can help you get wherever you’re going after that.” 

A mild scoff escaped Zuko’s throat. Katara looked over and glared at him. “Sorry, sorry.” He raised his hands in surrender. “It’s just, I went to military school in Ba Sing Se and we learned about Fong. I think we’d be better off on our own. He’s known for being… the kind of guy who takes shortcuts.” The council looked at him in confusion and Katara glared harder. “Okay, fine. He’s a rich kid who’s dad bought him a command post to avoid the front lines. The battle plans he submits are what my teachers used as examples of what not to do. He’s constantly trying to find some ultimate weapon to finish the war and I don’t want him within a mile of Aang. The man asked for permission to do experiments on spirit energy from the Foggy Swamp last year. He’s not all there.” He motioned to his head. 

“And that’s who the Earth King sent to interface with this tribe?” One of the elders asked, disgusted. 

“In their defense, you had been an isolated, neutral nation until yesterday. The Southern Tribe fleet corresponds with General Hu, who is on the Earth King’s council while it is engaged in Earth Kingdom waters.” 

“A strongly worded letter will need to be sent to his majesty to address this insult,” the elder stated. 

“Then how would you suggest you four travel?” Anook asked, clearly trying to end this interaction.

“The same way we got here,” Aang piped in. “We can fly to Omashu.” 

“That sounds reasonable. You can discuss any provisions you need for the trip with my head of household.” Arnook rose from his seat and the council began to disperse as he approached the four of them. “May I have a private word with Prince Zuko and Sokka?” 

“Of course,” both boys replied. Katara bid them goodbye to figure out provisions, and Aang followed her for a lack of anything else to do. 

Then it was just the three of them standing in awkward silence. Arnook sighed and stole himself to begin. “When Yue was born I had a vision of a beautiful, brave young woman becoming the moon spirit. I always knew this day would come, but that does not make it any easier.” 

“You must be proud,” Sokka said without meeting his eyes.

“So proud, but so sad.” He looked over to Zuko. “Prince Zuko, I hope this does not change what we discussed.”

“Of course not, Chief. I look forward to working with you in the future.” The chief reached out his arm and Zuko gripped it. They exchanged a half smile. 

“And Sokka.” The chief reached over and put a hand on Sokka’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Sokka asked, confused. “I failed. I couldn’t protect her.”

“For making my daughter happy. A parent wants nothing more than for their child to be happy. She made her own choice, you could not protect her from herself or her destiny. I wish Yue had more time, but thank you for making what time she did have better.” Sokka finally looked up and met Arnook’s eyes. The chief extended his arm to Sokka and he gripped it. “I wish you both the best in your travels. Good luck.” 

… 

The plan was to leave at first light the next day. Once they were finished packing, the four of them sat in the main room of their guest house to have a final dinner in the place they’d called home for the past few months. 

“I was talking to Master Pakku,” Katara started. “He and a few other waterbenders are heading to the South Pole. I think we should sail with them for about a week in order to get out of the arctic water and solidly into Earth Kingdom territory.” 

“That’s a good idea,” Aang said. “Flying through the arctic is hard for Appa.” 

“When are they leaving?” Sokka asked. 

“Tomorrow morning. Should only change our schedule by a few hours.” 

“Why are they going to the South Pole?” Zuko asked.

“Pakku said it was to help with the rebuilding efforts. He said it was time.” She smirked. “To be honest, I think he’s going now to see Gran Gran.” That elicited a small laugh from everyone. 

The next morning before they left, Zuko snuck away to the healing huts. He found Yagoda looking over a wounded warrior in the main hut. Once she was done replacing a bandage she turned around to see Zuko and her face lit up. 

“Ikkuma, come here,” she said while wrapping him in a tight hug. “Have you come to say goodbye?”

“I have. We’re leaving with your brother’s ship in a few hours.” He returned the hug with equal force. 

“I am sad to see you go.” She pulled back and pinched his cheeks. “Please write when you can. I will worry about you.” 

“I will do my best,” Zuko promised. He reached into his coat pocket and produced a scroll. “Can you get this to Lana?”

“Of course. I’ll send it out with our next Order dispatch. You know, I am in charge of the Order in the north now that my brother is leaving.” She wore a self satisfied smile at her new authority. She took the scroll and tucked it into her coat pocket. “What is this?”

“Just a letter home. There’s something I need her to do for me.” 

“Is it to do with your sister?” She asked knowingly. 

“How did you-”

“You must know by now that I know everything.” She smirked at him. “Just know that whatever happened between you two was not your fault. You were both children.”

“She’s my sister. My responsibility.” 

“Don’t put so much pressure on yourself. You did not mean to hurt her. She will realize that in her own time.” 

“I hope you’re right.” 

She pulled him into another hug. “Take care of yourself, Ikkuma. I will miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too, Yagoda. Thank you for everything.” She squeezed him slightly tighter before releasing him and sending him on his way with a small bag of his favorite seaweed cookies. 

… 

During their time in the Northern Water Tribe, Sokka had drawn up a handful of plans for the rebuilding of his home tribe. Over the course of the next week, he went through his plans in tedious detail with the waterbenders who would be responsible for said rebuilding. Zuko enjoyed watching him try to explain his drawings. They were indecipherable to any non-Sokka minds. That is to say, Sokka had a very different idea of what a watch tower should look like to anyone else on the ship. The activity helped him return to himself and process his grief. By the end of the week on the ship, he was making a few jokes a day and smiling more regularly again. 

The week on the ship was good for each of them. Aang was able to distract himself from his guilt with his waterbending training. Sokka was able to channel his grief into the rebuilding plans. Zuko was able to meditate on his interaction with his sister. And Katara was able to share the burden of their moods with other people. 

Each night at moonrise Zuko and Sokka had the same interaction. Sokka would excuse himself from the group and sit on the aft side of the ship to watch the ascension. Once the moon was steadily over the horizon, Zuko would sit down next to him and stare firmly out at the ocean. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Zuko would ask. 

“Not really,” Sokka would reply. Then they would both sit there in silence and ignore the tears lazily creating trails down Sokka’s tan cheeks. No one else came over and neither of them said another word until Sokka got up and wiped his face, signaling that it was time to keep moving. 

The day they left the Water Tribe ship, they were all in as high of spirits as they’d been since the siege. The group stood next to Appa who was all packed and ready to go. Pakku came over to say his goodbyes. 

“Katara, I want you to have this,” he said while handing her a small, intricately decorated vial attached to a leather cord. “This is water from the spirit oasis. It has special healing properties. Do not lose it.” She took the vial and looped the leather cord over her neck. Then she wrapped the master in a hug. 

“Thank you for teaching me, Master Pakku.” She smirked. “Even if you were a sour sea prune in the beginning. I appreciate everything.”

He smiled. “Thank you for expanding my mind, Master Katara.” She released him and climbed onto Appa. He pulled out a box of scrolls. “Aang, these scrolls will help you with your waterbending training, but they are no substitute for a real master.” All of them could see the smug look on Katara’s face. “Good luck with that.” He patted Aang on the shoulder and handed over the box. Aang bowed and climbed onto Appa’s head. 

Pakku reached into his coat pocket. “Sokka, Chief Arnook asked me to give this to you. It belonged to the princess.” Pakku placed a round bone pendant with the symbol of the chief’s household carved on it attached to a thin piece of blue leather in Sokka’s hand. “May it help you remember her.” He patted Sokka on the shoulder, slightly awkwardly as the younger man just stared at the necklace in his hand. “Take care, son.”

Sokka thanked him and climbed into the saddle. He quickly wrapped the blue leather around his wrist and secured it as a cuff. 

Pakku turned to Zuko. “Zuko, don’t let any of them die.” He patted his shoulder twice before turning to address the group. “Fly straight southeast of here to reach Omashu. There you should be safe to start your earthbending training.” He turned back to Zuko. “And tell old King Bumi he still owes me a case of that good Earth Kingdom baijiu.” 

Zuko crawled into the saddle. Once he was settled Aang flicked Appa’s reigns. “Yip yip!”

“Say hi to Gran Gran for us,” Katara called back as they took to the air. Soon enough the Water Tribe ship was little more than a distant speck beneath them. 

… 

The group went back to their travelling routine easily and the familiarity of it felt good. Sokka still appeared to be melancholy, but the group overall felt better. They flew through the air all day and made camp at night. The only change from before the North Pole was Aang’s daily waterbending lessons. Zuko took more responsibility for cooking for the group during these lessons. 

One day a little under a week after they left the water tribe ship, Sokka and Zuko were floating in a river, relaxing during Aang’s waterbending lesson in the mountains outside of Omashu. The two boys floated along amicably.

“We should probably get moving soon. We should cover more ground today,” Sokka said while making no attempt to move. 

“What’s the rush? Aang’s training and it’s not like you’re ready to go, right now,” Zuko replied, looking pointedly at his friend who was floating in his underwear. 

“I could be ready in two minutes,” Sokka huffed. “And we should keep moving. We have to get to Omashu.” Sokka was clearly upset. In Zuko’s opinion, a bit more upset than the situation merited. Lately it seemed that Sokka was easily triggered. 

“What’s wrong, buddy?” Zuko asked. He asked everyday, and he always knew the answer. But Sokka never seemed to want to talk about it. 

“I’m fine,” Sokka lied. 

In the distance, Zuko could hear a familiar singing. It took him a moment to place the voices, but once he did a wide smile crossed his face. This could be exactly what his friend needed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading this so far! I never expected so many people would enjoy this story. I have some real fun plans coming up and I can't wait to share them with you. 
> 
> Comments and kudos are creativity monster fuel <3


	15. The Cave of Two Bros

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE STAN AN UNPROBLEMATIC MALE FRIENDSHIP!

“Hello there river people!” A familiar voice called from the edge of the trees. 

“Chong?” Zuko called as he got out of the water. He grabbed his clothes from the shore and threw them on as he approached the newcomers. 

“Lee! Good to see you again. I knew our spirits would meet again, I’m glad it’s in this life,” Chong said happily. As he approached the new group, Zuko could hear his friends whispering behind him. 

“What is going on?” Katara asked. 

“I don’t know, I think these may be his friends?” Aang replied. 

“Weird.”

“Yeah.”

Zuko pointedly ignored them for the moment. “It’s good to see you again, too!” Each nomad hugged him in turn. It had been a few months since his last interaction with them, and one look at Lily told him the most notable development of that time. “Congratulations! How far along are you?”

She smiled widely at him as she rubbed her swollen belly, clearly more sober than she’d been months ago and the rest of her group. “About four moons.” She lightly swatted his arm. “Lee, introduce us to your companions.”

“Right, sorry. This is Katara, Aang, and Sokka,” he said, motioning to each of them who were still staring at him confused. “You guys, this is Chong, Lily, and Moku. They’re the nomads I met while I was travelling on my way to Ponhai.” 

Recognition began to dawn on his friends’ faces of the story he’d told about his journey to find them. 

Aang leaped out of the water to greet them properly. “Hi, nice to meet you! I’m a nomad, too!”

“Hey, me too,” Chong replied. Aang just laughed. 

Aang got along with the nomads immediately. Chong claimed that their spirits sang similar tunes, whatever that meant. 

Katara looked at the group skeptically before tugging on Zuko’s arm and whispering to him. “Are these the same nomads who got you high off your ass?”

“Yeah,” he replied with a huge grin. 

She frowned at him. “I’m not sure this is a good idea. Aang is fourteen. I don’t think he should be doing drugs.”

“He’s actually one hundred and fourteen.” She glared at him. “I agree we shouldn’t let Aang get high. But I have an idea.”

“What?”

“I want to get your brother high so he’ll talk about his feelings,” he said with a self satisfied smirk. 

She stared at him blankly. “That’s your plan. Really?” She rolled her eyes and considered it. “Fine, we can spend the evening with them. But if you and Sokka are getting high, I want in.” His smile widened. Never let it be said that Katara didn’t know how to have a good time. 

“This is going to be fun!” 

… 

It took a bit of cajoling to get Sokka to agree to share camp with the nomads for the night. Zuko had to promise that he knew a way through the mountains that would guarantee they’d make it to Omashu the next day. Katara had taken Aang aside and made him promise not to eat anything strange or smoke anything. The young monk pouted about this but even he admitted that in the Air Temples you had to be sixteen to join the ‘aided trips to the spirit world.’ 

Before dinner Katara was sitting with Lily as the older woman braided flowers into her hair. Zuko found the sight of her smiling, haloed by flowers incredibly intoxicating. Katara was luminous in the fading sunlight. He had to to stop himself from staring for too long. He wasn’t sure where their relationship stood and didn’t want to come off as creepy. 

He sat down next to Moku and caught up on what he’d missed over the last few months. The nomads had wandered all the way to Chin Village in the Southern Earth Kingdom and were now heading to Lily’s home village in the mountains surrounding the Northern Air Temple so she could give birth there. 

Zuko told him all about the rest of his travels and as much of their time in the North that he felt was appropriate to share. He finished off by telling Moku about what happened with Sokka. “My friend over there,” he motioned to Sokka who was sitting by Katara and trying to avoid the flower crown Lily was putting on his head. “Has been really down since his girlfriend passed. I was hoping some time with you guys might cheer him up. He’s been having trouble opening up and talking about his feelings.”

“Each flower blooms in their own time,” Moku replied. “He will talk to you when he is ready. But we can definitely try to cheer him up for the night.”

Both groups shared a campfire that night. Just before dark, Zuko saw the nomads begin to pass around the familiar small rolls. He placed himself next to Sokka in the circle and tried to hand the other boy one of the cookies he’d accidentally ingested last time. 

“Are those the special cookies from your story?” Sokka asked. 

“Yep,” Zuko replied with a wide smile on his face. Sokka gave him a skeptical look. “I already got permission for us from Katara.”

“Really?” 

“Yes. She wants one too.”

“You are a bad influence on my baby sister.” He took the proffered cookie. Initially he made a face at the taste of the first bite but finished the whole thing regardless. Zuko did the same with his own cookie before bringing one to Katara at her seat next to a very disgruntled Aang. 

“This is not fair,” the youngest boy claimed. Zuko laughed and patted his shoulder before going back to Sokka at the other side of the clearing. 

They chatted amicably with Moku about nothing of consequence for about a half hour. The moon was beginning to rise when it hit. The moon appeared brighter than usual, almost as if it was surrounded by an extra, ethereal light. 

“She’s beautiful,” Sokka whispered with watery eyes. He began to fiddle with the light blue necklace around his wrist. Zuko put his hand on the other boy's knee for comfort. “I miss her so much.” Zuko nodded and handed Sokka a piece of jerky. He took a big bite. “I feel like I’m not supposed to be sad because it was her choice. But I’m still sad because she’s gone. You know?” Zuko was temporarily rendered mute by how heavy his tongue felt all of a sudden. 

“It is alright to be sad when something ends. You must not let the sadness overwhelm the joy that it happened,” Moku interjected as he exhaled a perfect ring of smoke. 

A single tear escaped Sokka’s eye as he threw himself into the nomads arms. Moku chuckled good naturedly and patted him on the back. “You’re so wise!” Sokka grabbed his face between both hands. “Your brain is beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Moku replied. He peeled Sokka’s hands off his face and placed them in his lap. Moku got up and walked to where Chong, Aang, and Katara were sitting. 

“Do you think Yue can see us from up there?” Zuko asked, staring deeply at the celestial body. 

“I do. She said she’d always be with me.” Sokka picked up a dumpling and began eating it with tiny, precise bites. “Do you think I’ll ever love again?”

“I do. You’re a really lovable guy and you’re kind. Once you’re ready to open your heart again love will just flow right in.” Zuko motioned a flowing pattern with his hand to illustrate his point. “I love you, buddy.”

“I love you too,” Sokka said, looking Zuko right in the eye. Sokka launched himself at Zuko in what Zuko would later describe as a rib bruising hug. And he would have the bruises to prove it. But Zuko met him with equal force. The two boys sat there holding each other for a long moment. Time felt irrelevant to them both. Zuko was marveling at the change that the cookies had wrought in Sokka when the subject of his thoughts spoke up. “Thanks for being there for me lately. You’re a good guy.”

“I don’t know about that. You’re a great guy. Not me. I just fail everyone that I’m supposed to protect.” Zuko buried his head against his friend’s shoulder. 

“You’ve got to stop beating yourself up for that stuff with your sister. It’s not your fault.” Sokka scooted closer to tighten their embrace. 

“I think it’s okay for both of us to be sad about things we can’t control.” 

“But you can control yours. I’m sure we’ll see your sister again. You just need to fix things with her.” Sokka leaned his head against the top of Zuko’s. 

“How do I do that?”

“I don’t know. We can figure it out together,” Sokka promised. They sat in silence for a moment. “What color is seven?”

“Orange.”

“You’re right! But eight is light blue.” Zuko just nodded his head. 

A throat cleared behind them. They turned towards it without letting go of each other. Katara was standing there, staring at them. “Sokka, stop cuddling my boyfriend.”

“I can cuddle whoever I want,” he said defiantly. 

“Is that me? Am I your boyfriend?” Zuko asked. 

“Yes,” she said as she moved to get between the two boys. 

“Okay, cool,” he replied with a big smile. 

She managed to separate the two boys enough to sit in Zuko’s lap. She nuzzled her face into his chest as he kissed the top of her head. “So warm,” she sighed happily. Sokka also sidled closer and put his head on Zuko’s shoulder and his arm around his sister. Zuko was not surprised to find that the Water Tribe siblings were cuddlers while intoxicated. 

The back of Zuko’s mind thought about how he had not kissed Katara since the spirit oasis and that they probably needed to talk about this further. But the front of his mind was happy to have her so close in this moment. He felt so warm and happy with his two friends wrapped around him. 

Both siblings’ breathing evened out as Zuko slowly snacked on fire flakes. Momo came along and perched on top of Zuko’s head. He also quickly fell asleep. Aang came over with a playful scowl on his face. 

“Aang, are they all asleep?” Zuko stage whispered. Aang’s scowl turned to a wide grin as he began to giggle. 

“Yeah, you’re stuck,” Aang laughed. Zuko shrugged which almost dislodged Sokka on his shoulder and made Aang laugh harder. 

Aang helped Zuko maneuver both water tribesmen to their sleeping bags. Or more accurately Aang used his bending to put them to bed while Zuko gave moral support. His motor control was not at its strongest and standing was hard enough. 

Zuko grabbed the other boy by the shoulders and looked into his eyes. “Thank you Aang. You’re a good soul.” Zuko leaned over and tucked Aang’s bald head under his chin. 

“You know what, maybe I don’t want to get high after all,” Aang joked. “Let’s get you to bed too.”

“Okay,” Zuko said as he released Aang and allowed him to lead the way to his sleeping bag. 

… 

The next morning Zuko led the way to the cave of two lovers. The nomads decided to join them to get through the mountains. As they walked, he explained the glowing crystals that would lead their way through the network of caves. 

“I don’t know about this,” Aang said. “Appa hates going underground.” 

“This is the fastest way, Aang,” Sokka stated. “Appa will be fine. It’ll just be a few hours.”

“I hope you’re right,” Aang pouted. 

Katara pulled Zuko to the back of the group. They were close enough to the others to still hear Chong singing about a secret tunnel but far enough away to miss Sokka’s groaning. 

“Hey, can we talk about last night?” Katara asked. 

“Sure,” Zuko said. “What about last night?”

“I called you my… boyfriend. And we hadn’t talked about it. So I’m sorry about that.” She didn’t meet his eyes. 

“Hey.” He tried to move his head down so she’d have to look at him. “It’s okay. I didn’t mind. I actually kind of liked it.” 

“Really?” She looked up at him with a hopeful smile. “You don’t have to say that. I know you weren’t super sure about us in the first place. I don’t want to pressure you again.”

“Really,” he promised. “I like you a lot and I’m trying not to self sabotage as much. If you want me to be, I’d love to be your boyfriend.”

Her smile grew as she moved onto her tiptoes and kissed him softly. His hands moved to her hips as he matched her kiss. It was a perfect moment until something hit Zuko in the side of the head causing him to lurch away from her. He looked down to see the lychee nut that had just hit him at his feet. 

“Stop that!” Sokka called. Zuko blushed and rubbed at where he’d been hit as Katara scowled at her brother. They both rejoined the group. 

Inside the cave, Zuko quietly nodded his head along to the nomads traveling music. The constant singing grated on Sokka who was upset to find that he had no allies in his fight against it. 

“You, my young friend, have a case of destination fever,” Chong told Sokka after the millionth time he’d requested the singing to stop. 

“Well, we are trying to get someplace in a timely manner,” Sokka retorted. 

“You’ll get there when you get there. Try to enjoy the journey,” Lily informed him as she placed a flower behind his ear. The singing resumed and Sokka groaned louder than before. 

Sokka hung to the back of the group and began walking beside Zuko. “Can you believe this, buddy?” Sokka asked, clearly looking for support in his anti-singing crusade. 

“I don’t know. It’s kind of fun,” Zuko replied. 

“Not you too. I thought the whole point of adding another older boy was to bond over manly things like this.”

“Seriously?” Zuko laughed. “What kinds of manly things? Do you want me to spit or something?”

“No,” Sokka pouted. “Just hate on the music with me.” 

“No can do, buddy.” Zuko’s laughter was hard to hold back. “We can do super manly things like cuddle. Oh wait, we did that all last night.” 

“That wasn’t cuddling. That was manly hugging,” Sokka stated as he lightly shoved Zuko. Zuko stumbled a few steps and hit the side of the cave, scattering a few smaller rocks. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you that hard.”

“All good. I’m fine.” Zuko brushed himself off easily. 

However, the incident must have disturbed something in the cave because suddenly the group could hear a sound like flapping wings. 

“What’s that?” Aang asked in a higher pitch than usual. 

At that moment glowing eyes appeared down one of the non illuminated arms of the labyrinth. The eyes got closer and began making a high pitch hissing noise. 

“Wolf-bats!” Sokka screamed. Appa began to freak out and was hitting the walls of the cave with such force that Zuko was afraid the whole thing would cave in. The wolf bats swarmed their group and Zuko created fire in his palms to ward them off with. The wolf-bats began to clear the area, afraid of the flames. He was about to take a sigh of relief when pebbles began to fall off the ceiling right above where he and Sokka were standing. A huge blast of air knocked them both against the opposite wall as a massive rock pile separated them from the rest of the group. 

“Ow,” Zuko moaned and rubbed where his head connected with the rock wall. 

“Aang didn’t need to blast us  _ that _ hard, did he?” Sokka groaned and rubbed his own injuries. 

“Are you okay?” Katara’s voice called from the other side of the rocks. Sokka approached the new rock wall and tested it for weak points. 

“We’re fine. Is everyone okay on that side?” Sokka called back. 

“Yeah we're all fine. I don’t think we can get through these rocks though.” 

“That’s okay. Just continue through the tunnel and we’ll meet you on the outside.” 

“Be careful!” Katara called back. “I’ll see you guys in a bit.”

“You too. Be safe baby sis, I love you.”

“I love you too.” 

Zuko slowly got to his feet. He was going to have a full body bruise tomorrow, but was otherwise fine. Maybe he could get Katara to heal it when they reunite.

“Looks like it’s just you and me.” Sokka started towards the luminescent end of the tunnel. Zuko limped along behind him. 

A few minutes passed in silence. “So how are you doing?” Zuko asked. 

“I’m doing okay,” Sokka replied. “Last night was fun.”

“Yeah it was.” Zuko smiled. “Do you want to talk more? I’m here for you.”

“I don’t know what else there is to say. I miss her. I think I’ll always miss her. But Moku was right, I shouldn’t let the pain of having lost her overtake the happy memories.” 

Zuko patted him on the shoulder. “Well, if you ever need a shoulder to cry on let me know.” They lapsed back into silence. 

The pair came upon a giant set of doors. “What’s this?” Sokka asked as he pushed on one of the doors. 

“I don’t know. Let’s check it out,” Zuko replied. Inside was a giant cavern with intricate carvings on the walls and two large rectangular stones in the center. “It’s the tomb of Oma and Shu.” Zuko was awestruck.

“Who?” Sokka asked, clearly not understanding the gravity of where they were. 

“Two lovers, forbidden from one another, the war divides their people and the mountain divides them apart. Built a path to be together.” 

“If you say secret tunnel I will hit you.” 

Zuko laughed. “It’s the story of the founding of Omashu. Oma and Shu were from warring villages and built these tunnels to be together. When Oma died in the war between their villages, Shu used her insane earthbending skill to end the war and named the new joint village Omashu after their love. This,” he motioned around them, “is their tomb.” 

“Cool,” Sokka stated. Zuko rolled his eyes. 

The last panel of the intricate engraving of their love story showed Oma and Shu kissing at the top of the mountain. “Speaking of lovers and all this,” Sokka said motioning to the last panel. “Are we going to talk about how you kissed my baby sister right in front of me?” 

“Do we have to?” Zuko asked with a ferocious blush rising on his cheeks. 

“She’s an adult and she can do what she wants and I guess she could pick a worse person to do it with than you. But I just don’t want to see it.” Sokka put out his hand. “Deal.” 

Zuko shook it with an uncomfortable laugh. 

“Now let’s never talk about this again,” Sokka begged.

“You brought it up,” Zuko countered as they left the tomb and began to follow the lighted path again. Sokka scowled at him. 

…

Since the boys were travelling just the two of them, no singing nomads or giant sky bison to worry about, they made their way through the cave very quickly. They joked with each other the entire way so they were both in high spirits when they finally saw the literal light at the end of the tunnel. They were the first ones out.

The good humor of their journey immediately left them once they got their first view of the great city of Omashu. There flying high above the city was a blood red banner with a flame emblazoned across it. 

“Well, fuck.” Sokka sighed. 

“Yeah,” Zuko agreed. They stood there staring at the city as the earth nearby began to rumble. A side of the wall fell away to reveal the nomads, Aang, Katara, Appa, and Momo accompanied by a few giant animals that Zuko assumed must be badger-moles. 

“You guys! Look at the new friends I made!” Aang called upon seeing them. 

The smile fell from his face as he turned to see what the boys were staring at. “You have got to be kidding me.” Was his sentiment on the situation. 

“I’m sorry, Aang.” Katara put a comforting hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I know you wanted Bumi to be your earthbending teacher.”

“He still can be,” Aang insisted. “We need to go make sure he’s okay.”

Sokka and Katara exchanged skeptical looks. “I don’t know if going into a recently conquered city is a good idea,” Sokka started. 

“I wouldn’t worry too much about Bumi,” Zuko told him reassuringly. “The Order has contingency plans for this kind of thing. If he was in danger they’d have gotten him out of the city already. He’s probably already in a safe house. I can try to get word out to find him next time we’re in a town.”

“Okay,” Aang said sadly. “It feels wrong not to at least go make sure everything is okay.” 

“I know.” Katara wrapped him in a hug. “But it’s what’s best. We have to keep you safe.”

He nodded and tried to smile but it didn’t reach his eyes. 

“So, Lee’s a firebender,” Lily stated behind them. 

Zuko froze. Sokka and Katara both started to babble excuses at the same time. 

“Don’t worry, friends. We won’t tell,” Chong laughed. “Lee’s spirit rings on a friendly frequency, we don’t want to cause him any trouble. I believe you all will do great things. I hope we meet again.” The nomads began to walk away as the group called their goodbyes. 

“Where to now?” Sokka asked. 

“This is going to sound weird, but I’m feeling a call towards the south,” Aang said matter of factly. 

“Honestly, with all this Avatar stuff that doesn’t even sound weird anymore. Let’s head south.” Sokka rolled his eyes dramatically. The three of them climbed on Appa and with a final yip yip they were off. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is such a beautiful trash fire. I love it. I love getting my characters high. I love Sokka and Zuko's relationship. These boys don't know how to talk about feelings but just want to be there for each other. Ugh my heart.

**Author's Note:**

> For those of you who are wondering, Sepak Takraw is my new favorite sport. It is essentially what would happen if soccer and volleyball had a love child. I personally headcannon that if the world were less eurocentric this is what they'd have been playing on Ember Island. We were all cheated out of seeing Tai Lee play this. Here is a [video](%E2%80%9Dyoutube.com/watch?v=H2LIlu7_-xc%E2%80%9D) so you can all see the glory of this sport. Also no one can tell me that our favorite dramatic prince would not kill it at a sport that required so many flip kicks.


End file.
